JLX: An Arrow's Flight
by Xodarap
Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? note: this is not YAHF
1. Chapter 1

**Justice League Xander:  
An Arrow's Flight**

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. I don't have any money anyway.

Spoilers: "Halloween" (BtVS), "Graduation" (BtVS), "Pangs" (BtVS), "Grave" (BtVS), and "Patriot Act" (JLU).

Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? (note: this is not YAHF)

Author's note: This story is part of the "Justice League Xander" series, the rest of which can be found at my website.

(1/?)

January, 1998

Oliver Queen sat in his office, shuffling papers and signing checks, trying to keep busy until his next appointment. He thought when he sold his company to become a philanthropist that he wouldn't ever have to deal with mindless paperwork again. But managing his fortune was a job unto itself. A job that Ollie wouldn't trust anyone else with. So he still kept an office in the city, and employed a secretary to keep track of his calender. Philanthropy wasn't as fun as it sounded, he decided. Giving away lots of money to important causes just seemed to anger all the people that he wasn't giving money to. There were accusations of grandstanding to remain in the public eye, and of giving to charity solely for the tax write offs. But mostly the work was just tedious. Sometimes the tedium was a nice distraction from the stress of his other job, but most of the time is was just, well, tedious. Ollie looked out his office window as the rain beat on it. 'Just another beautiful day in Seattle,' he thought sarcastically.

The intercom on his desk buzzed. "Ollie," his secretary's voice came through. "There's some kid out here to see you. He doesn't have an appointment, but he says it's important."

Another draw back to philanthropy, Ollie thought. Everyone always came to you with their hand out. Ollie pushed the button on the intercom. "Tell him to make an appointment."

"He says he's from Sherwood Forest. I don't know what that means but he said you would know."

Ollie dropped the pen he was holding. What could that mean? Did this kid know who he was? How could that be? "Send him in, Julie."

A moment later the door to his office opened and a young man walked in. He had a mop of brown hair, wet from the rain outside. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a teeshirt, with a light windbreaker on top. A little too light considering the temperature outside, it was January. He looked ordinary enough, like any other high school kid.

"My name is Xander Harris. Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Queen," he said, extending his hand.

Ollie regarded the young man suspiciously and didn't shake it. "Why don't you sit down and tell me what this is about."

Xander took his hand back and sat down nervously. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I'm not planning on blackmailing you, or selling what I know to the tabloids or anything like that. I just want you to hear me out. And if after I say what I've come to say, you want me to leave, I will and you won't ever hear from me again. Your secret will be safe, I promise."

"And just what is it exactly that you think you know about me?" Ollie asked.

"That you're the Green Arrow," Xander answered.

"And what makes you think that?"

"I don't think it, I know it. I know everything about you. I know might sound a little far fetched, but the truth is that I know. You were born on August 15, 1968 in Star City."

"Anybody can look up that kind of information."

"In the sixth grade you had a crush on a girl in your class named Kelly. She moved away a year later, and you always regretted not saying anything to her. When you were seventeen you lost virginity to the redhead who lived next door, her name was..."

"Julie, reschedule my one o'clock please," Ollie said, pressing the intercom button on his desk. When he let go of the button, Xander continued.

"And when you were twenty-one, you and a bunch of your friends took a cruise to the South Pacific. You got drunk one night and fell off the boat. You washed up on a deserted island, where you spent the next eight months. That's where you developed your archery skills, hunting to survive."

"Reschedule my two o'clock too, Julie," Ollie said into the intercom.

"Sure thing, Ollie," she answered.

Ollie just stared at Xander for a moment, looking in his eyes for any clue as to what he was all about. He didn't see any malicious intent in those eyes. Just nervousness, maybe even fear. But there was also determination. Whatever he was doing here, it was important to him that he do it, no matter how nervous or afraid he might be.

"Okay, I'll bite. You know me. How?"

"Do you believe in magic, Mr. Queen?"

Ollie blinked at that. "You mean like David Copperfield?"

"More like Dr. Fate or Zantanna."

"Oh, that kind of magic."

"The real kind, yes. I was born and raised in a small town in California called Sunnydale, I've lived there my whole life. This is the farthest North I've ever been. Sunnydale is a very...strange town, to say the least. You can look up the statistics yourself. Per capita, the rate of unexplained deaths is higher than Detroit. And the rate of missing persons is higher than New York. There's a war going on, between good and evil, and Sunnydale is one of the battlefields. I've been involved in this fight for two years now. Sometimes on the front lines, but mostly as support."

"What does this have to do with how you know who I am?"

"I'm getting to that. This past Halloween, a chaos mage by the name of Ethan Rayne showed up in Sunnydale. He cast a spell on a selection of costumes, and then sold the costumes to the kids and teenagers in the town. The spell turned us all into whatever we had dressed as that night. So all those kids dressed as ghosts and goblins became actual ghosts and goblins. One of my friends was a ghost, the other was a 18th Century noblewoman. And I dressed as the Green Arrow.

"For that entire night, until the spell was broken, I was you. I had your memories, your skills, your trick arrows. I did pretty good that night. Or maybe I should say, you did pretty good. Fought hard, kept my friends alive. When the spell ended, and I was me again, I still remembered everything. The memories have been fading, like a dream, but I've been doing my best to concentrate and remember as much as I can. I don't have any of the trick arrows anymore obviously, and I'm not as fast or accurate with the bow as I was that night, but I'm still pretty good."

"Let's say for a moment that I believe you. Why come to me?"

"The Green Arrow has been my hero since I was a kid. When other kids were sticking newspaper clippings of Superman or Batman up in their lockers, I had clippings of you. Superman is powerful, Batman is mysterious, that's what those kids were drawn to. But you were just a man. A man who fought with bravery, and your wits, and skills that you worked hard to obtain. I've always admired that. I always dreamed that maybe, someday I could be like you.

"And then two years ago I met a girl who showed me how dark this world really is. She introduced me to a new fight, one that was just as important as yours. And it was right at my doorstep. And I thought, this was my chance. My chance to help people, to make a difference in the world, to be somebody. And over the last two years, I have helped. And I thought it was enough. But that night, when I was you, I finally found out what it really felt like to be a hero. And I realized that what I'm doing isn't enough, not for me. What my friends do, it's important, don't get me wrong. But I'm starting to feel like I don't really contribute all that much. It might be the most important fight there is, but I don't think it's my fight anymore. I don't think it's what I'm meant for.

"So what I have for you today Mr. Queen is a proposal. I want to be your partner. Sidekick, ward, protogé, padawan learner, whatever you want to call it. I want you to train me to be like you. All I want is a chance, to be the kind of person that I've always wanted to be, that I know I can be."

Ollie looked at this young man in front of him. This boy whose eyes betrayed a soul much older than his body. There was determination there, there was a drive greater than his own even when he first decided to put on that costume and put his skills to good use.

"That's a pretty unbelievable story," he said.

"We live in a pretty unbelievable world," Xander answered. "It's the truth, and I can prove it all to you if you give me the chance. Please, I'll do whatever you want me to."

"What if I asked you to kill someone."

"You wouldn't."

"But what if I did?"

"You wouldn't."

"But what if I did?"

"Then I'd knock you out and take you to some friends of mine to figure out what had possessed your body and how to get rid of it."

Ollie smiled at that. "I can't believe I'm actually considering this. I don't even know you, and I've never even thought about taking on a sidekick before."

"Partner," Xander corrected. Ollie looked at him. "Or sidekick, if that's what you prefer."

"You'd have to finish high school."

"Of course."

"And you'd need to follow a strict training regimen to get you into the best shape of your life before I'd even consider letting you out with me."

"Understood."

"And you'll need a job. I suppose I could find a few things that I needed done that I could pay you for."

"Whatever you say. Does this mean...I mean, are you agreeing to this? You'll train me, Mr. Queen?"

The philanthropist stood up and walked around his desk, offering Xander his hand. Xander stood and shook it. "Call me Ollie."

8888888888

Buffy was sitting at the table in the library thumbing through a newspaper and Giles was standing behind the circulation desk when Willow walked in. She was holding an envelope in her hand and wearing a blank expression on her face.

"Hello, Willow," Giles said, looking up from his work. But Willow didn't answer. She just walked over to the table where Buffy was sitting and sat down.

"Wills, are you okay?" Buffy asked. Giles walked out from behind the desk and over to the table.

"I got a letter from Xander," she finally said.

"Did he say when he's coming back?" Buffy asked. "Winter break is over in two days."

"He's not."

"He's not what?"

"He's not coming back."

"What?"

Willow slid the letter across the table to Buffy. She picked it up and took the letter out of the envelope. She unfolded it and started to read it out loud.

"Dear Willow,

"This is the hardest letter that I've ever had to write. I've started it five times already because I just can't think of the right words. Do you remember what I told you after Halloween, about how being the Green Arrow for the night really got me thinking about the kind of person I am, and the kind of person that I want to be? Well, that's kind of why I took this trip. I had to give it a try, if I didn't I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. I know that you don't really know what I'm talking about, and I wish I could tell you more. But the details are part of a secret that isn't mine to tell. I hope you can understand that.

"What I'm trying to say is that I'm not coming back to Sunnydale. I have a chance here to do something special, and I'm taking it. I'm not saying that what happens in Sunnydale isn't special or important, I know that it is and I have been proud to help with that fight in any way I can. I just think that what I'm doing now is a better fit for me. Now don't worry, I'm going to finish school up here, I promise. And by 'up here' I mean Seattle, which is where I am. And no, I can't tell you why just yet. I've got a job and a place to stay and all that, so I'll be well taken care of.

"I know that writing a letter like this instead of calling you or telling you in person must seem very cowardly, but I have two very good reasons for it. One, I'm a coward. And two, there are things that I want to say to you, and I think that if I called you and told you this, you'd be too busy trying to convince me to come back to listen. Willow, you are my best friend in this entire world, and that doesn't even begin to describe what you mean to me. You saved me, Willow. You took that lost little boy that you met in kindergarten and you shaped him into the person I am now. I don't know what I would have done without you in my life, I can't even begin to think about it. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to think that I'm leaving our friendship behind in Sunnydale. The truth is, it's because of you that this is the hardest decision that I've ever made. But it's also because of you that I've had the courage to make it. You will always be the most important person in my life Willow, and I love you.

"I hope you'll share this letter with Buffy and Giles, there are some things I'd like to say to them too. Buffy, you've been my hero for the past two years, and an amazing friend. You saved me too, in the more literal sense, more times than I care to count. I hope that you'll always remember what a great person you are. And that the slayer may be what you are, but it isn't who you are. You're Buffy, first and foremost, and as long as you surround yourself with people who believe that just as strongly as I do, you're going to be just fine.

"Giles, as I'm sure you must have guessed, my home life hasn't been the greatest. I never had a lot of positive male role models growing up. But I'm proud to say that as I become a man, I'll always think of you as the example to be measured against. I hope I can make you proud of me someday.

"This is not goodbye. I still want to be part of all of your lives, as much as possible. Willow, I'll call you in a few days once you've had time to let all of this process. I hope you're not angry with me for doing this, and if you are then I hope you can forgive me. This is my brass ring, I had to grab it. I'll miss you all, but we'll talk real soon.

"With love, your friend, Xander Harris."

Buffy felt her eyes well up a little as she put the letter down. "I can't believe it," she said.

Willow was shaking her head, fighting back tears. "How can he do this? How can he leave? What am I going to do without him?"

"While we'll all surely miss Xander terribly, we can't begrudge him his chance at happiness," Giles said calmly. "And if he thinks that chance is in Seattle, we should respect his decision and wish him the best of luck."

"But why can't he be happy here, with us?" Willow asked. Giles walked over to her chair and gathered the redhead into a hug.

Buffy looked down at the letter on the table. She flipped the newspaper that she had been reading over to move it out of the way. When she did, the picture on the back caught her eye. It was the society page, and on it was a picture of Xander standing next to a man with blond hair and a goatee. The headline read 'Millionaire Philanthropist Reunited With Long Lost Nephew.' Buffy's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she picked up the paper and looked closer.

"Um, Willow, you might want to see this."

8888888888

Xander took a long swig from his water bottle as he stopped to catch his breath. He had already run two miles and he had three more to go before he was allowed to stop for the day. He was covered in sweat, every muscle in his body was screaming in pain, and he was sucking air like an asthmatic trying to climb to the top of the Sears Tower. He had only been training for two weeks, but it felt more like months. He knew it was going to be hard, but he hadn't been prepared for the reality. Running every day, lifting weights every other day, basic combat training, and all of that on top of the 'job' Ollie had given him, fixing all of the things he had been neglecting around his house. Cleaning out gutters, rehanging doors, tiling the guest bathroom. Xander had never worked so hard in his entire life.

Ollie jogged up from behind him, he was already ahead of Xander by at least two laps. That was what really kept Xander going. Everything he did, Ollie was right there doing it with him. Well, except for the gutters. And when Xander felt like he was on the verge of collapse, Ollie barely looked like he was sweating. This is what he did, every day, to keep his body in peak physical shape so he could keep doing what he did. He didn't just put on a mask one day and decide to become a hero on a lark, he busted his ass every day to make it happen.

"You want to quit?" Ollie asked.

"No!" Xander insisted, possibly a little too loud. "No, just taking a break."

Ollie smiled. "Yeah, I could use a break myself. Come on, let's go sit." The two walked over to a bench next to the track where they left their stuff.

Xander took another long pull off of his water. "I've been meaning to ask you, Ollie. All this training has been great, loads of fun, don't get me wrong. But when am I going to start archery training? You didn't change your theme and not tell me, did you? You're not the Green Running Guy now, are you?"

Ollie laughed. That was one of the things that he really liked about Xander the more he got to know him, he kept his sense of humor through everything. "We have to work off some of that baby fat first," he said, poking Xander in the side.

"Hey, don't get fresh. I don't put out on the first date mister." Ollie laughed again. "Seriously though, my memories of being you are really starting to fade. I don't want to lose any skills I might still have before I start training with a bow."

"Xander, I didn't agree to take you on because you had my memories. I did it because of what I saw in your eyes, what I still see there everyday. Determination and passion. You have the heart and soul of a hero, Xander. The other stuff can be learned, but not that. You have to be born with it. So don't worry about your skills. When the time comes, you'll learn everything you need to know."

Xander smiled. "Thanks."

"In the mean time, I do have something for you." Ollie reached under the bench and pulled out a long metal case. "Consider it a reward for all the hard work you've done. Go ahead, open it."

Xander opened the case and looked inside. "Oh my god." It was a bow, almost exactly like Ollie's except that it wasn't green. It was just bare wood. "It's beautiful," Xander said, picking it up out of the case.

"It's hand carved from a single piece of Pacific Yew, from the rain forests of British Columbia, just like mine. It just has a light finish on it now, eventually we can get it painted whatever color you want."

"I...I don't know what to say. This is really for me? Not just for me to practice with or something?"

"It's one hundred percent yours," Ollie confirmed. "I just thought you should get familiar with it before we start archery training. The feel of it, the weight in your hand. It's going to be with you for a long time. Chances are it will save your life more than once."

"Wow, I feel like I should name it or something," Xander said, running his hands over the smooth finish.

"Nah, that would just be creepy."

"Yeah, you're probably right," He put the bow back inside the case and closed it.

"What do you say we knock off early today, go get a pizza or something," Ollie suggested. "Just this once."

Xander grinned. "What's the matter, you tired old man?" Xander asked, elbowing him in the ribs. He stood up and started toward the track. "We still got three more miles to run, let's go!"

"You still have three more miles, I only have two and a half," Ollie said, standing up and jogging after Xander. "Just try and catch up."

"Watch me!" Xander yelled back, taking off at a full run.

8888888888888

June, 1999

"So, that's the plan?" Buffy said. She looked at her friends, gathered in the library for what could be the last time as they awaited the Mayor's ascension. "I know it sounds crazy..."

"I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan ," Cordelia said.

"We attack the Mayor with hummus," Oz said.

"I stand corrected," Cordelia amended.

"Just trying to put everything in perspective," Oz added.

"I don't know, I think we can make it work." Everyone turned and looked toward the door at the person who spoke, with varying degrees of shock at who they saw there. "Buffy's plan I mean, not the hummus thing." He wore a red body suit with no sleeves, and bracers over his forearms. He had yellow boots with a yellow belt and a yellow strap across his chest holding a quiver of arrows to his back. On the left side of his chest was a yellow circle with a black letter 'S' in it, and he wore a thin black mask over his eyes. In his hand he held a yellow bow.

"Xander!" Willow yelled, running over to him and pulling him into a hug.

A second later Buffy joined her, making it a group hug. "It's good to see you, Xan," she said.

"It's good to see you guys too," Xander said. He looked up at the others. "I guess my secret identity is out then."

"Oh please, as soon as we saw that Green Arrow had a new sidekick we put two and two together. Besides, a pair of sunglasses covers more than that mask," Willow said, pulling back from the hug.

Xander smiled. "Maybe, but you'd be how surprised how well it works. And it's partner, not sidekick."

Willow smacked him on the arm. "I haven't heard from you in over three months, no phone calls, no emails! What's the matter with you, how could you not tell me about this?"

"I'm sorry, I was going to, things just got...busy."

"So what are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"Well, you guys couldn't make it to my graduation, so I thought I'd come down for yours. Plus I heard you had some demon problems."

"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than just demon problems," Giles said.

"Yeah, it always is," Xander responded.

"So, you guys know Speedy," Oz said in his usual flat tone. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should."

"You must be Oz," Xander said. He crossed the room and offered the shorter man his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

Oz shook his hand. "I've heard a lot about Xander, and I've read a lot about Speedy in the papers. Now I have to combine those things in my head. It might take a while."

Xander nodded and smiled. "Take your time."

"Wow dweeb boy, you really bulked up," Cordelia said, sauntering up to Xander and squeezing his bicep. "It looks good on you, even if you are dressed like a circus performer."

"Thanks, Cordy. Your candor is as refreshing as ever." The two hugged briefly. "It's good to see you too."

"Yeah Xander, how did you get in here dressed like that?" Buffy asked. "Didn't anybody see you?"

"You'd be surprised what people in this town will ignore," he said. "Then again, maybe you wouldn't be. And by the way, can you guys try to call me Speedy when I'm in costume? I may not be able to keep any secrets from you, but I'd rather the whole school not know that it's me."

"Xan...I mean, Speedy, this is a small town, we've been in school with the same kids since kindergarten," Willow said. "Don't you think they'll recognize you?"

"Wills, everyone I ever cared about or who ever cared about me in this town is in this room right now. You'd be surprised how much a simple mask can cover. I'll be fine. Now, we've got more important things to worry about right now."

"I would say so," Giles said. "The Mayor is planning on ascending to pure demon form at commencement this afternoon, so we haven't much time to prepare."

Speedy nodded. "Like I said, I heard Buffy's plan and I think it can work. And I can help, we'll just need to liberate a few items from the gym, and hit the hardware store for a few cases of Sterno. I think we can cook up a few surprises for the honorable Mayor McDemon."

8888888888888

"Second wave, draw! Light 'em up! Loose!" Twenty flaming arrows cut through the air and struck the giant snake that had once been Mayor Richard Wilkins III. In a few places the Sterno from the arrows stuck to the demon's skin and continued to burn. The creature roared. Speedy shot off a couple explosive tipped arrows of his own, hitting the demon in the head. They weren't doing much damage, but it was enough to distract the mayor long enough for Angel's group to dispense with the vampires and get as many people away from the school as possible.

"First wave, draw! Light 'em! Loose!" Between the gym equipment room and the local sporting goods stores, they were only able to scrounge up forty bows. So Speedy separated his volunteers into two waves, one would fire while the other prepared their next shot. So far it was working well, but they only had enough arrows for a few more volleys. He glanced over at Angel's group and saw that they were taking some casualties. He hoped Buffy was ready soon. If her part of the plan didn't work, then none of the rest would matter.

"Second wave, light 'em, loose!" The demon roared again as another volley of arrows slammed into him. That's when Speedy spotted Buffy, standing in front of the mayor waving Faith's knife around.

"Hey! You remember this? I took it from Faith. Stuck it in her gut. Just slid it in like she was butter. You want to get it back from me...Dick?" The demon snarled at her and Buffy took off into the school. The giant snake turned and followed.

Speedy turned to his archers. "All right, hand to hand!" he yelled. It was all up to Buffy now. The only job they had left was to survive. "Get as far from the school as you can!" The archers dropped their bows and picked up their other weapons before running into the fight with the vampires in front of the school. Speedy stuck to the high ground. He pulled a wooden stake tipped arrow from his quiver and took aim at the closest vampire he could find. This fight was far from over.

888888888888

The fire department was calling it a gas explosion. Probably because listing 'explosion to kill giant demon snake' on an official report as the cause of the fire would raise a few eyebrows. Sunnydale was a town entrenched in denial, and sometimes that worked to the good guys' advantage. It seemed like the whole town had turned out to watch the school burn. The street was filled with firetrucks and cop cars. There was even a newspaper photographer running around taking pictures of everything.

Speedy was standing in the grass with Willow, Cordelia and Oz, watching the spectacle like everyone else. He was a little dirty and banged up, they all were. It was a long fight. "It's not every day a guy gets to come back to his home town and set fire to his high school," Speedy said. "This is a special day for me."

"Yup," Oz agreed.

Speedy watched Buffy and Giles talking in front of a firetruck a dozen or so yards away. He saw Buffy look off in the distance at Angel with a sad look on her face. And then Angel was gone. "What's going on with Buffy and Angel?"

"He's leaving," Willow said. "It's just too hard for them to be together."

"Damn," he said. "That's got to be rough. How's she dealing?"

"I'm not sure she is yet. There's been so much going on, with the mayor and all," Willow said. She looked at Speedy. "I thought you of all people would be happy to see him leave."

Speedy looked at her, surprised and a little hurt. "I don't like seeing anyone I care about in pain. All I ever wanted for Buffy was for her to be happy. The fact that Angel and I didn't get along doesn't change that, I'm not that petty," he said. "Not anymore."

Buffy walked over to them, a distant look on her face. Speedy held his arms open, offering a hug. She took it, and laid her head on his chest for a second. Willow put her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's for the best," Buffy said. "As much as it doesn't feel like it right now, I'll be okay."

Speedy kissed the top of her head and Buffy turned around to watch the firefighters finish putting the school out. That made two high schools she had set fire to now. There was a small amount of satisfaction in that.

"Guys. Take a moment to deal with all of this," Oz said. "We survived."

"It was a hell of a battle," Buffy said.

"Not the battle, high school." They all took a moment and silently watched the smoldering remains of the school. Cordelia stood up from where she was sitting in the grass and brushed herself off. "We're taking a moment...and we're done."

Cordelia wandered off. Oz reached over and gave Willow's hand a squeeze before walking into the crowd himself. Buffy gave Speedy another quick hug before heading back over to where Giles was standing. That just left Willow and Speedy standing in the grass.

"You were great today," Willow said. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Speedy smiled. "You were pretty great yourself. You're getting pretty good at the magic thing."

"Thanks. You're getting pretty good at the bow and arrow thing."

"I do okay," he said. "I've got a good teacher."

Willow paused. "You haven't told me much about him, even when you did call or email."

"Well, I don't know how comfortable Ollie is with my friends knowing who he is. Even though he admits that it's his own fault for letting that picture of us get taken. Besides, we don't get to talk much anymore and I thought you'd be more interested in me," he said with a smile.

"I am, it's just...we used to tell each other everything. Now it just feels...it feels like I don't really know you anymore."

"Willow, come here." Speedy drew her into a hug. "You are my best friend, and that's never going to change, no matter how many hundreds of miles are between us. I know that this hasn't been easy for you, it hasn't been easy for me either. But what I'm doing now is important, and I think it's worth it. I'm becoming the kind of man that you can be proud of."

"I've always been proud of you, Xander. You don't need to be a big time superhero for that. You just have to be you."

"Thanks, Wills. You don't know how much that means to me." They pulled apart slightly and Speedy wiped a tear off of Willow's cheek with his thumb. "So no more crying, okay? You're not losing me, I promise."

Willow nodded. "Okay. How long are you staying?"

"Not long, I have to leave tomorrow. But I'll be back to visit again, real soon. I swear."

Willow just nodded again, not trusting her voice.

"Speedy!"

Speedy turned to see who was calling him. It was Cordelia, walking across the grass and waving for him to come over to her. He looked at Willow to make sure she was all right. She nodded. "Go ahead, I'll be right here. I love you, Xander."

"I love you too, Wills," he said, giving her a peck on the forehead. He turned and walked over to where Cordelia was standing.

Willow looked at him, wondering if this is what Buffy felt like watching Angel leave. She knew it wasn't fair to feel like that, Xander wasn't leaving her, the situation wasn't the same. But all the logic in the world wouldn't make the hollow feeling in her chest go away.

"What's up, Cordy?" Speedy asked, jogging over to her.

"I don't know if Buffy or Willow told you, but now that school's over I'm moving to L.A. to try the acting thing."

"Really? That's great, best of luck to you."

"Yeah, Daddy's been having some troubles with the IRS. And by troubles I mean that he hasn't paid taxes for the better part of a decade and they're a little peeved by that. They took everything, the house, the cars, my trust fund. So I'm pretty much on my own now."

"Oh my god, Cordy that's terrible. How are you holding up?"

"Well, a Chase always lands on their feet. At least that's what my dad said right before he ran off to Europe to escape prosecution. I'll be okay. Anyway, we probably won't see each other for a long time, so I just wanted to say goodbye. I know that we haven't always been friends."

"And by always you mean ever, right?"

Cordelia just smiled. "I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate everything you've done for me. Saving my life, making my graduation oh so memorable, stuff like that. So, thanks. I'm going to miss you, you big dork." She reached over and pulled him into a hug.

Speedy was a little surprised, he had never know Cordelia to act like this. Maybe losing all her money had really put things in perspective for her and showed her what was really important. "That's sweet, Cordy. I'll miss you to-Mmm..."

Speedy was cut off when Cordelia's lips suddenly pressed up against his own. It took a second for his brain to figure out what was happening, then another second to realize how strange and unexpected it was, but after that Cordelia did something with her tongue that sent all rational thought out the window and instinct kicked in. His arms wrapped around her waist as hers snaked up around his neck and he started kissing her back. He saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye right before Cordy broke the kiss.

"Did you get that?" Cordy asked.

"You bet!" a man answered. "Thanks a lot miss, the Enquirer is going to pay a lot for that picture."

Speedy blinked as his senses returned. He turned his head and saw the photographer that he had seen earlier smiling at Cordelia. "That's Cordelia Chase," she said to him. "C-H-A-S-E."

"Thanks again," the photographer said, jotting her name down in a notebook before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

"Cordy!" Speedy screeched. "I take back every nice thing that I ever thought about you," he said, starting toward where the photographer had gone.

"Xand...I mean Speedy, wait!" Cordelia pleaded, stepping in front of him. "Everything I told you was true, I swear. I really am broke and I really am going to L.A. to be an actress. Do you know how many thousands of women go to Hollywood every day to try to become actresses? This kind of publicity could really give me an edge. Speedy, please, I need this." Speedy just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Consider it a graduation present."

"You could have just asked."

"You might have said no," she admitted sheepishly.

Speedy sighed again. "Green Arrow is going to kill me for this," he mumbled. "Fine, consider it a favor. But you owe me one."

"Absolutely," Cordelia said with a thousand watt smile. "Thank you so much!" She hugged him again and ran off into the crowd.

Speedy turned and looked back to where Willow had been standing, but she was gone. His face fell. "Shit."

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

**Justice League Xander:  
An Arrow's Flight**

By Paradox761

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. I don't have any money anyway.

Spoilers: "Halloween" (BtVS), "Graduation" (BtVS), "Pangs" (BtVS), "Grave" (BtVS), and "Patriot Act" (JLU).

Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? (note: this is not YAHF)

Author's note: This story is part of the "Justice League Xander" series, the rest of which can be found at my website (link above). Special thanks to Ravus01, zeoknight, ashez2ashes, CylonOne, Magewind, Joshua Richardson, Bobboky, yoraththewolf, nutjobb82, hatten, Tjin, Vlad, Dennis Sicz, and Garg oyl for all the feedback and support.

(2/?)

November, 1999

The door of Giles' apartment opened to reveal the smiling form of Xander Harris, holding a pie. "Happy Thanksgiving," he said.

Willow nearly tackled him with a hug, almost knocking the pie out of his hand. "Xander!" she squealed excitedly. "It's so good to see you, I'm so glad you could come."

"Me too. Come on, let me come in and put this pie down so I can hug you with both arms."

Willow broke the hug so Xander could come inside and closed the door. "Welcome to our ritual sacrifice of a turkey to celebrate white European imperialism," she said.

Xander put the pie down on the dining room table and took off his coat. "You really are getting better at magic, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were just channeling your mother, right?"

Willow mock-glowered. "Very funny," she said. "What kind of pie did you bring?"

"Peach."

"Oh, my favorite, thank you!" Willow exclaimed, hugging Xander again.

"I didn't make it or anything Wills, I just bought it."

"Still, it was sweet," she said.

"So," Xander said as the hug broke. "Why do you have a vampire tied to a chair in the dining room?"

"Oh, him," Willow said. They both looked over at Spike like they had just noticed him there. He sneered at them, but given his position it wasn't very intimidating. "That's a long story."

"What, no hugs for me Whelp?" Spike said with a smirk.

Xander turned back to Willow. "Are you guys out of stakes? I might have one in my truck, I can go look?" he asked casually. Spike's smirk fell.

"No, thanks though. We're keeping him alive for a reason, he might have some information on these weird military guys that we've been seeing around town lately. Plus, he doesn't seen to be able to bite people for some reason, so he's mostly harmless."

"Hey!" Spike objected to his description. The pair ignored him.

"Okay, let me know if you change your mind," Xander said. "Where is everybody?"

"Buffy is in the kitchen cooking, and Giles is doing some research at the public library."

"Research? Is something going on?"

"Isn't there always in this bloody town," Spike complained.

Willow looked reluctant. "There was an...incident yesterday, during the groundbreaking ceremony for the new anthropology building on the UC Sunnydale campus. One of the construction workers fell into a hole, which turned out to be the old Sunnydale Mission, which had been buried during an earthquake. And then this morning the curator at the cultural center was found dead, with his ear cut off and there was a Chumash spear missing. Buffy and I think there might be a connection, so Giles is researching the Chumash in Sunnydale. But that doesn't mean we still can't have Thanksgiving. You don't have to worry about a thing, we've got it all under control, it won't ruin your trip."

"Easy Willow, breathe. Don't worry about me. This is Sunnydale, I fully expected there to be weirdness, I can deal. Nothing is going to get ruined."

Willow smiled. "I know, you're right. It's just...you're only going to be here for a few days, and I just want everything to go perfect."

"It will, I promise," Xander reassured her.

That's when Buffy came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron with a bowl in one hand and a whisk in the other. "Wills, I need your help with the mashed po...Xander!" She put the bowl down next to Xander's pie and ran over to give him a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Buffy," Xander said. "How've you been?"

"Not bad," she said as the hug broke. "Starting college has been a little stressful, on top of all the usual hellmouth related stress. But I'm dealing."

"A little birdie told me that you've got a boyfriend now. I've heard he's nice, is he nice? I bet he's nice," Xander said with a teasing smile.

"He's...nice," Buffy said, not being able to think of another word.

"See, I told you," Xander said, turning to Willow. "Did I call it or what."

"Riley and I just started dating, so we're still really getting to know each other. But he's a sweet guy, I like him a lot," Buffy said.

"Bloody hell, I think I might vomit," Spike growled. Again, no one paid any attention to him.

"So what about you, how have you been? How are...things?" Buffy asked.

"Things are good," Xander answered. "I'm still working for Ollie, helping to run a couple of his charities. He's been teaching me a lot about business."

"That's great. What about...other things? You know, things"

Xander looked confused for a moment until he realized what she was talking about. "Oh, things. Things are fine, going quite nicely actually."

"You lot are about as subtle as a freight train, you know that?" Spike said. "I know all about the whelp playing boy wonder to that bloke who thinks he's Robin Hood up North, so you can stop talking in your unbreakable code."

Xander shot an incredulous look at Spike, and then whipped his head over to Willow. "Did you..."

"No!" she insisted.

"Nobody had to tell me anything whelp, it's not that hard to figure out for anyone who knows you and has half a brain. Which means your identity should be as safe as a baby in its mother's arms."

Xander sneered and started toward the bound vampire. "I hope Giles still has that dust buster, because things are about to get real dusty in here."

"Xander, wait!" Buffy said, putting her hand on his arm to stop him. "We need him alive...for the moment anyway. I promise, he's in no position to tell anybody anything."

Spike just smiled. "She's right, mate. Your secret's safe with me, cross me heart and hope to die."

"You're already dead," Xander pointed out.

"True enough, but the lady has a point. Who am I going to tell?" Spike smirked. He knew the slayer wouldn't let anything happen to him, so he had nothing to fear.

Xander stared Spike down a moment longer before responding. "Fine," he said. "Come on Buff, I'll help you in the kitchen."

Xander and Buffy walked into the kitchen with Willow not too far behind. "I'm sorry if I overreacted in there. It's just...I told GA when this whole thing started that there were going to be certain people that I wasn't going to be able to keep this from. He told me something that I never forgot. The more people who know, the more dangerous my life would be. Up until now it's been a trade off that I've been willing to make, but him of all people..." Xander trailed off as he pointed toward the dining room where Spike sat tied to a chair.

"It's okay, Xander," Willow said. "We'll keep your secret safe, I promise."

Buffy decided that a change in subject was in order. "Your life didn't look that dangerous on the cover of Teen People last week," she said with a playful smile. Xander put his hands over his face and groaned. Willow frowned but neither Buffy or Xander noticed. "How is Cordelia by the way?"

"The last time I talked to her, she was fine," Xander said. "We're not a couple, I just help her with a photo op now and then to help her stay in the tabloids. It works quite well actually, the buzz was enough to get her that part on Dawson's Creek."

"And what are you getting out of this arrangement?" Willow asked with more than a little venom in her voice.

"Besides my own share of good publicity, a favor owed from Hollywood's next big starlet. In my line of work you make all the allies you can. You never know which ones might pay off down the road."

"Speaking of allies," Buffy said, changing the subject again as she could feel Willow's unease. "What's it like being part of the Teen Titans now? That's got to be exciting."

Xander smiled. "There's never a dull moment, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I love working with Green Arrow, and he'll always be a mentor to me, but being part of a team again feels nice. We all have something special to contribute, and when we're working together and it's all clicking, it just feels like we're...unstoppable. I don't know if that makes sense."

Buffy smiled. "Oh, it makes perfect sense."

"You are being careful, right?" Willow asked a little sheepishly. "I mean, you're not getting yourself in over your head, are you?"

"No Willow, I'm not. I've got plenty of people watching my back these days, you don't have to worry."

"I know, but I do," Willow said.

"I know," Xander said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "And I love you for that. But honestly, I'm fine. I promise."

It was then that the trio of friends heard the front door opening. They filed one by one back into the living room, where they saw Giles pushing the door shut with his shoulder as he tried not to upset the stack of books he was holding.

"I'd offer to help you with those Rupes, but I'm a little tied up at the moment," Spike said, snickering at his own joke.

"Do shut-up, Spike," Giles said, not even looking at the vampire.

"I'll help you with those, Giles," Buffy said.

"Oh, thank you Buffy, I appreciate that." Buffy took the books and set them down on the coffee table. That's when Giles finally looked up and noticed Xander in the room. "Xander," he said, with a warm smile. "It's good to see you my boy, how are you?" he asked, extending his hand.

Xander took his hand and pulled the older man into a hug. "Good to see you too, G-Man," he said. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Yes, happy Thanksgiving to you too. I'm sorry I wasn't here to give you a more proper welcome. As usual we're in the middle of a bit of a crisis."

"I wouldn't have expected any different," Xander said.

"Crisis?" Willow asked with more than a bit of panic in her voice. "I take it you found something then."

"Quite a few somethings actually," Giles answered. "I believe what we're dealing with here is a Chumash vengeance spirit, called Hus."

"A vengeance spirit?" Buffy asked. "Who is he reeking vengeance on? And for what?"

"Well, the Chumash were a largely peaceful tribe until white settlers came and took most of their land. And in return, they gave them malaria, smallpox and syphilis, tried to convert them to Christianity, and generally treated them as little more than livestock."

"Oh my god, that's horrible," Willow exclaimed.

"So what makes you think this Hus guy is the one responsible for the murder?" Buffy asked.

"Murders, I'm afraid," Giles said. "I decided to stop by St. Anthony's on my way back from the library to see if I could learn anything more about the church's involvement with the Chumash. Father Gabriel has been killed too, and one of his ears was severed. A Chumash custom, to prove the kill was successful.

"Oh god," Willow exclaimed again, putting her hand to her mouth.

"As terrible as that is, how do we know that this isn't just some pissed off flesh and blood human being we're dealing with?" Xander asked. "What makes you think it's supernatural?"

Giles took a folded newspaper from his back pocket and handed it to Xander. "This," he said.

Xander took the paper and read the headline. "Construction worker hospitalized after falling into old Sunnydale mission."

"Read the third paragraph."

"Though his physical injuries were minor, Johnson remains in the hospital pending the review of some rather odd test results, which came back positive for malaria, smallpox and syphilis," Xander read. He looked up. "I see your point, that would be a rather odd coincidence."

"Quite," Giles said. "Hus is avenging the crimes committed against his people, it's the only explanation. And there's no telling who could be next."

"So how do I kill it?" Buffy asked, getting straight to the point.

"Kill it? We can't kill it," Willow said. "He's not evil, he's just doing what was done to his people. We should try to help him to move on."

"Willow, he's already killed two people, we don't have time to get him into group therapy, we have to stop him," Buffy said.

"I'm afraid that Buffy is right. As tragic as what happened to the Chumash is, we can't let Hus continue his reign of vengeance. These killings may be symbolic, but the victims are still innocent."

"So we're just going to prove him right, is that it? Wipe him out just like our ancestors wiped out his people."

"Whoa, let's just settle down here for a minute," Xander said. "Now correct me if I'm wrong Giles, but you can't exactly kill something that's already dead, can you?"

"You're correct Xander, what we're talking about here is vanquishing the spirit," Giles clarified.

"Which means what exactly?"

"Removing his power base from this plane and forcing him to move on to the next."

"Sounds like a win/win to me," Xander said. "He gets to move on, and we stop him before the body count gets any higher. What do you think, Willow?"

Willow frowned but she nodded.

"Great. So what's involved in this vanquishing, G-Man?"

"I'll have to do more research, but it shouldn't be too complicated."

"Okay, how about this. You stay here and keep researching and Willow and I will go and scope out some possible victims, try to warn them and figure out what Hus's next move will be."

"Sounds good," Buffy said. "That'll give me a chance to finish dinner. You have your cell phone on you?" Xander nodded. "Call if you run into any trouble."

"You bet."

88888888888888888

Willow sat in the passenger seat of Xander's candy-apple red Chevy Tahoe, staring out the window. "I don't understand how you can be so cavalier about this."

"I'm not being cavalier, and neither are Buffy and Giles. Just because a decision was made quickly doesn't mean it was made hastily. Buffy's been doing this a while now, she knows what she's doing. And she knows that if she hesitates, it could cost lives."

"It still doesn't feel right."

"Something GA told me once, the right decision isn't always the easy decision."

"I think I've had enough Green Arrow pearls of wisdom for one day," Willow mumbled.

Xander took his eyes off the road and looked at her, surprised by the malice in her voice. Willow didn't face him. "Where to first?" he asked after a moment.

"The Dean of UC Sunnydale lives close to campus, let's try there first."

88888888888888888

Willow and Xander walked down the front steps of the house. Willow looked aggravated, and a little embarrassed. Xander was carrying a small paper plate with a slice of pecan pie on it and holding a plastic fork in his other hand. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, thank you again for your time," Willow said sheepishly toward the door of the house. Xander just held up his pie and smiled in thanks. The door closed without a response from the occupants. The two slayerettes made their way down the front walk back toward Xander's truck.

"I thought that went well," Xander said around a mouthful of pie.

Willow turned and glared at him. "He thought we were crazy."

"His wife was nice. She gave me pie."

"I think it might have gone better if you hadn't led off with 'Everybody got both ears?'."

Xander took another bite of pie. "The direct approach is usually the best approach," he said. He didn't bother telling Willow where that little piece of advice had come from, and she didn't bother asking. "If they had had any interaction with Hus, we would have been able to tell. And if not, they would have thought we were crazy anyway. No point in beating around the bush."

Willow just frowned while Xander juggled the pie and his car keys before unlocking the doors. She got in while Xander walked around to the driver's side. "I'm worried about you," she finally said.

"Willow, we've been through this. I've got good people watching my back, the best."

"I don't just mean that. I mean you, your personality has changed. The Xander I knew never would have walked into that house so brazenly."

"Maybe I am more confident now. Is that such a bad thing?"

"It can be if you're over confident. I read the papers, Xander. A month ago, in Jump City, when Control Freak came looking for the Titans and found your team instead. They said you used a bridge suspension cable to launch yourself like a human arrow at a bunch of incoming missiles. Am I supposed to read that and not worry about you?"

"You can't believe everything you read in the papers."

"That's not a denial."

"You noticed that, did you?"

Willow just rolled her eyes and turned to face the window.

Xander finished his pie, folding the paper plate in half and sticking it into his door panel. He reached up and started the car. "Where to next?"

"Just drive," Willow answered. "I need to think."

888888888888888888

The next stop turned out to be the Espresso Pump. Caffeine helped Willow think. They were walking out with their coffees in hand when they ran into a familiar figure that surprised them both.

"Angel!" Willow exclaimed in surprise.

"Willow."

"Angel," Xander said.

"Xander?"

"What are you doing in Sunnydale?" Xander asked.

"What are you doing in Sunnydale?" Angel countered.

"This is starting to turn into a bad Abbott and Costello routine, why don't we all just sit down," Xander suggested, pointing to one of the tables that sat outside the café. Angel nodded and they all sat down.

"You're not, like, evil again? Are you?" Willow asked.

"I don't think he'd be joining us for coffee if he were, Wills," Xander said, taking a sip from his cup.

"I just…I just wanted to see how Buffy was doing," Angel said.

"Does she know you're here?" Willow asked.

"No. And please don't tell her, I don't want to upset her. It's just…this friend of mine in LA, he has these visions. He saw Buffy in one, said it looked like she was in trouble. I just…I needed to make sure she was okay. I saw Giles earlier, he said that there wasn't anything major going on and that Buffy is doing fine."

"She is," Willow agreed. "It was hard for a while but she's dealing, things are getting better for her."

"I'm glad," Angel said.

"Yeah, if it weren't for this Native American vengeance spirit, I'd say things were peachy with a side order of keen," Xander said.

"Native American did you say?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Doyle's vision. He said that he saw Buffy fighting with a Native American."

"What else did he see?" Xander asked.

"He saw a knife, and parts of the room where they were fighting. From the description, I think it was Giles' place."

Willow and Xander shared a look, then they both quickly started to get up from the table. "Good seeing you again Angel, we should do this again real soon, good luck in LA, have a nice life, see you in the funny papers," Xander said in a rush as he reached out a shook the vampire's hand. He patted him on the shoulder quickly and then he and Willow made there way briskly to a red SUV parked in front of the café. They got in and took off down the street.

Angel just sat there for a second, watching the truck's taillights, unsure about what had just happened. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he jumped up from the table and started down the street himself to where he had parked his car.

888888888888888888

Xander's Tahoe screeched to a halt outside of Giles' apartment. The pair got out and Xander walked around to the back of the truck, unlocking the gate with the remote in his hand. "What are you doing? We have to get inside, Buffy could be in trouble," Willow said.

"I know," Xander said. He opened the gate and then pressed another button on the vehicle's remote. A secret compartment in the floor of the truck popped open. Xander lifted the lid to reveal his Speedy costume folded neatly sitting next to his bow and a selection of arrows. Willow looked at him. "What can I say, I believe in being prepared."

"You said that this was going to be a Speedy-free vacation, Xander. You promised," Willow complained.

"Unfortunately, no one told Hus that. Vengeance spirits can be so inconsiderate sometimes," Xander quipped as he pulled out his quiver and started filling it with arrows. "Besides, you didn't expect me to come to Sunnydale unarmed, did you? I was expecting vampires so most of the arrows I brought are wood tipped, but I should still have some trick arrows in here too. Let me see, boxing glove arrows, yes, explosive tips, definitely not, buzz saw arrows, maybe…"

Willow watched as Xander sorted through the arrows, deciding which ones he would need. She saw one arrow sitting by itself in a plexiglass case. "What's this one," she asked, reaching for it.

"No, don't touch that one," Xander said quickly. "That one is…for emergencies only."

"You don't think this is an emergency?"

"Are you kidding, in Sunnydale? This is just another Thursday. Come on," he said, sliding his quiver onto his back and picking up his bow. Willow frowned again as he closed the truck's gate. "What? I'm leaving my costume in the truck, so technically I haven't broken my promise. Come on."

Xander started across the street and through the small courtyard in front of Giles' apartment, Willow followed close behind. "We're probably overreacting," she said. "I'm sure Buffy and Giles are fine."

"Maybe," Xander said. He opened Giles front door and saw Buffy on the living room floor wrestling with a Native American man holding a knife. Spike sat tied to the same chair he was in earlier, only now he had several arrows sticking out of his chest. He looked rather bored by the whole thing. An arrow sailed passed Xander's head and embedded itself in the wall by the door. Xander looked up and saw more Chumash spirits with bows and arrows on the second floor landing. "Then again, maybe not." He grabbed Willow by the arm and the two of them dived behind Giles' couch. That's where they found Giles laying, furiously looking through a book that sat on his chest. "You sure know how to through a party, G-Man," Xander said. "Replace the arrows with broken beer bottles and this would be a traditional Harris family Thanksgiving."

"I'm glad you approve, Xander," Giles responded dryly.

"You any closer to that vanquishing thing?" Xander asked.

"I would be, but most of the ingredients I need are still in the kitchen," Giles answered.

"Of course," Xander said. He pulled an arrow from his quiver and knotted it. He peaked over the couch, then popped up and returned fire before quickly ducking back down. The arrow struck the wall just over the Chumash's heads. "I count three on the stairs," he said. "I assume Buffy's dancing partner over there is Hus."

"You assume correctly," Giles answered. Xander pulled two more arrows out of his quiver. He held them up and tore a piece of the fletching off of each. "What are you doing?" Giles asked.

"Just a little trick I saw once." He knotted both arrows and popped up again, taking quick aim and drawing his bow, he fired then ducked back down. The two arrows curved outward to either side and quickly found their targets, before passing right through them and sticking into the wall.

"And just where exactly did you see that 'little trick'?" Giles asked.

"Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves," Xander answered.

"Of course," the watcher deadpanned.

"That was amazing!" Willow exclaimed, clearly impressed.

"It would have been more amazing if it had worked," Xander said. "Incorporeal?" he asked. Giles nodded. Xander looked up from the floor at Spike. "Their arrows seem solid enough," he said, just as another one slammed into the bound vampire's shoulder.

"Bloody hell! If one of those hits my heart, I'm going to be very cross!" If the Chumash spirits understood him, they gave no indication.

"I can try my buzz saw arrows, it might scare them," Xander thought aloud.

"Absolutely not!" Giles insisted. "There's already been enough damage done to my flat, I'll never get my security deposit back now! Besides, conventional weapons will have no effect, the only thing that might hurt them would be spiritual weapons, like…" Giles trailed off and turned to look at Xander.

"Like the weapons that they're using," Xander finished. "Buffy!" he called out.

"I heard, way ahead of you," she responded. Xander peaked over the corner of the couch to where Buffy and Hus were fighting. Her arms were covered with shallow cuts from defending herself from more critical injury. Xander could see the wheels turning in her head, she was waiting for her opening. Finally Hus made a lunge and she grabbed his arm. She trapped his elbow with one hand and shoved his knife hand away with the other, forcing the blade into the vengeance spirit's chest. He gasped and looked up at her, for a moment their eyes locked. "I'm sorry," Buffy said softly.

Xander's eyes moved from Buffy back to Spike, and the arrows sticking out of his torso. He briefly thought about using one of them with his own bow, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to get them out cleanly and quickly enough. That's when another plan formed. "I have an idea, you two stay here," he said.

"Xander, wait!" Willow objected.

But it was too late. Xander moved from behind the couch to behind Spike's chair. He used the vampire as a shield, pushing the chair closer to the stairs. "Hey, what the hell are you doing whelp?!" Spike shouted. Xander ignored him as he pushed forward. A few more arrows struck the vampire before Xander made it to the stairs. He jumped out, tackling the spirit at the bottom of the steps and cracking him in the side of the head with his bow. He quickly pulled two arrows out of the Chumash's quiver, stood and fired them both in quick succession at the two Chumash who were still standing at the top of the stairs. He struck the first in the chest, and the second in the head, sending them both to the floor instantly. This gave Xander more time to grab another arrow and fire it into the first Chumash at the bottom of the stairs. A second later, all four bodies turned to smoke and disappeared.

For a moment, no one said anything. Finally, Giles stood from behind the couch. "Good lord, that was fast," he said.

"They don't call me Speedy for nothing," Xander said with a wink. "Is that going to do it for these guys Giles, or should we set a few extra places for dessert."

Giles seemed to think about that for a moment. "No, that should do it."

Xander smiled. "Good."

"Bloody hell!" Spike exclaimed. "You used me as a human shield!"

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, Spike," Xander said. "You have to be human to be a human shield."

"He's got you there," Buffy added.

"Oh, do shut-up! Look at me, I look like a bloody pin cushion!"

"Let me give you a hand," Xander said, walking toward the vampire. He wrapped his hand around one of the arrow shafts and smiled down at Spike. "Don't worry, it'll only hurt a lot." With that, he yanked hard and pulled the arrow free. Spike's scream was no doubt heard for miles.

"Speaking of things that are painful and nobody wants to look at, my turkey is ruined," Buffy said with a frown.

Xander walked over to his friend and put his arm around her. "Don't worry about it Buff, the turkey doesn't matter. What matters is that we're all here together."

Giles walked over and gave Buffy a smile. "Absolutely," he agreed.

Willow ran over and hugged Xander on the other side. "Well said," she said.

"Bloody hell! That hurt like a mother…"

"Who wants pie?!" Willow called out. Everybody laughed. Well, almost everybody.

The hug broke up and Giles sighed as he looked around at his apartment. "Would you all mind helping me tidy up a bit first?" he asked.

The group all agreed and set out to start picking up. Xander made his way back to the stairs and started pulling the arrows out of the wall. "A little spackle and paint and these holes should patch up nicely, G-Man," he said. His time helping Ollie fix up his estate had paid off, Xander had learned more than a thing or two about home repair. It was funny, Xander thought. As much as things had changed for him since leaving Sunnydale, being back made him feel like nothing had changed at all. It felt warm and safe, the way coming home should feel, he thought.

"It's good to come home," he said out loud to himself with a smile. "It feels just like old times. Especially with Angel being around and all."

The background noise in the room behind Xander stopped. Even Spike's complaining stopped. He could feel four pairs of eyes burning a hole in the back of his head as the realization of what he had said and who he had said it in front of began to sink in. The arrows in his hand fell to the floor, and his head fell gently against the wall in front of him. He closed his eyes and tried to will the words to come back, but it was too late. "Shit."

888888888888888

Later that night Willow was in the kitchen washing dishes when Xander walked in. Giles and Spike's raised voices could be heard from the other room as the door swung shut behind him. Willow turned and smiled at her friend. "What are those two on about?" she asked.

"Apparently they've found the one topic on which they both agree," Xander said. "American football is bullshit." Willow laughed. "They're kind of making it hard to enjoy the game."

"I can imagine."

Xander picked up a kitchen towel and started to dry the dishes as Willow washed them. "So, how hard do you think Buffy is going to kill me when she gets back?"

Willow chuckled again. "Oh, I don't think she's really mad at you. She's not really mad at Angel either, she's just…confused. She was finally just starting to put him behind her and now she's being forced to think about him again."

"It hasn't been easy for her, has it?"

"Trying to adjust to college life on top of dealing with this, plus the slaying. No, it hasn't."

"I wish there was more that I could do for her."

"She just needs her friends to be here for her right now, that's all we can do," Willow said. She turned, giving Xander a look to punctuate her words. If he noticed he gave no indication.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said.

"Besides, right now I think she's more upset that her Thanksgiving dinner didn't go as smoothly as she would have liked." Xander chuckled. "Seems like every time you come for a visit, all Hell is breaking loose."

"The Norman Rockwell thing just isn't us, Wills. It wouldn't feel right if there wasn't something going down, it's the Hellmouth's way of welcoming me home."

"Still, I was hoping for a warmer welcome then this," Willow said. "I wanted everything to be perfect for your visit." She paused. "I wanted you to see what life could be like here again if you came back."

Xander frowned and put down the plate that he had been drying. "Is that what this is about?" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Willow, I understand that you miss me, I miss you too, but I have another life now. I have responsibilities, I can't just turn my back on them and move back to Sunnydale."

"Oh, but you can turn your back on us, is that it?" Willow asked, her irritation clearly showing in her voice.

Xander's voice remained calm. "Is that what you think? Willow, if I thought for one second that you guys really needed me here then I never would have left. But I wasn't contributing anything here, I was just in the way. I had to find my own place in the world. And I'm sorry that that took me away from you, but that doesn't mean that I don't care. You're still my best friend."

"This isn't about me missing you. You contributed a lot here, more than you know, maybe more than any of us realized until you were gone. And you can contribute a lot more."

"Not anything meaningful."

"Meaningful?! You don't call what you did at graduation meaningful?! Or what you did today?"

"I helped, and I'm more than happy to help you guys whenever I can. But being Speedy…it gives me a chance to contribute something more, to do something important."

"Well we might not have any flashy costumes or wacky props, but I think that what we do is pretty damned important! Why do you have to dress like a circus acrobat to feel like you're contributing?"

"You're not listening to me. I'm not saying that being Speedy is more important than the fight in Sunnydale, I'm just saying that it's a better fit for me. It gives me a chance to accomplish something."

"What are you accomplishing?! All I see is a lot of stupid risk taking for nothing!"

"Nothing? So because we're not saving the world from being sucked into hell, we're doing nothing, is that what you think? I take a lot of pride in what I do, and what my friends do. We make a difference in the lives of a lot of people, whether you want to see that or not. We can't all save the world Willow, some of us have to be content just saving some of the people in it. And that doesn't make you better than us, and it doesn't make what we do unimportant.

"Why can't you just be happy for me? Why can't you just be happy that I found something that I'm good at, something that makes me happy? Why can't you be proud of me?"

"Proud of what? You run around in a silly Halloween costume and shoot boxing glove arrows at petty thugs. What is there to be proud of?"

The second the words left her mouth, she regretted them. When she saw the look on Xander's face, she knew that she hurt him worse than she ever would have thought herself capable. The silence seemed to stretch for days. Xander had his eyes on the floor, he couldn't even look at her. Willow tried to think of something, anything to say. But her brain refused to cooperate. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Xander turned and started toward the kitchen door.

"Xander, I'm…"

He stopped and held up his hand, stopping her sentence before she could finish it. "Don't," he said. "Just…don't." Again, the silence seemed to stretch, but this time Xander was looking right at her. "My entire life, since I was five years old, all I ever wanted was your approval, your respect. I never cared what anyone else thought, not my parents, not teachers, not the other kids who all thought I was a loser. You believed in me, and what I wanted more than anything was to prove you right. To prove all those people wrong who thought that I would spend the rest of my life trapped in my father's drunken shadow. I was going to become a man, even if I didn't have anyone to show me how. And when I found my chance I went for it, and I worked harder than I have ever worked in my whole life to get it. And I did, I succeeded, I became the man that I always knew I could be. And so what if all those people who never believed in me would never know. The people who really mattered knew, and that was all I cared about. More than anything Willow, in my entire life, all I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me," Xander said. "But I guess that's never going to happen." And with that he turned and walked out of the kitchen.

"Xander, wait!" Willow called out. But he didn't wait, he didn't even slow down. The kitchen door swung closed and then she heard the front door open and close. She wanted to go after him, but she didn't know what she would say. What could she say? All she wanted was her best friend back, and with one careless comment she had cut him deeper than any knife or arrow ever could. She grabbed a kitchen chair and sank down into it. Her head fell into her hands and she cried. She cried, and she racked her brain trying to figure out how she could fix this.

But what Willow didn't know was that that exchange would be the last words either of them would speak to the other for almost two years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Justice League Xander:  
An Arrow's Flight**

By Paradox761

/~Paradox761

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. I don't have any money anyway.

Spoilers: "Halloween" (BtVS), "Graduation" (BtVS), "Pangs" (BtVS), "Grave" (BtVS), and "Patriot Act" (JLU).

Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? (note: this is *not* YAHF)

Author's note: This story is part of the "Justice League Xander" series, the rest of which can be found at my website (link above).

*

(3/?)

(Additional Author's Note: To clarify, this is a crossover with the DC Animated Universe, specifically Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans. So the Titans team that Xander is a part of is the Titans East team from the cartoon series, featuring Bumblebee, Aqualad, and Más y Menos. Also, the date at the opening of the pervious part was incorrect, it should have read November 2000, not November 1999. Thank you.)

_June 2002_

_Kingman's Bluff_

Willow stood at the top of the bluff, her hair and eyes blackened from the dark magic that she had absorbed. In front of her stood the long forgotten idol, unearthed now and glowing from power that she was filling it with. The power of an entire planet filled with fear and pain and anger. Her face contorted in fury as she fed the effigy.

What she didn't notice was an arrow fly up over the edge of the bluff and stick into the ground. A cable attached to the back of the arrow and running down the side of the ledge suddenly went taut, and a moment later a masked figure in red climbed up and over the edge. He quickly took in the scene before him, the look on Willow's face, the power that she wielded with barely a thought. The task ahead of him seemed hopeless, the fate of the world inevitable. Still, he had to try. He set his bow and quiver on the ground, the treasured weapons would do him no good today. He thought briefly about the irony of what Ollie had said when he gave him that bow, about how it would likely be with him until the day he met his end. He reached up and peeled off his mask, dropping it to the ground next to his quiver. If he was going to die this day, then it would be as himself, with no masks between him and his best friend.

Xander stepped between Willow and the effigy, interrupting the flow of magic. It stopped almost as soon as it touched him, but still it stung like hot electricity. His muscles tingled and felt slightly numb, but he bit down the pain. "Hey, black-eyed girl. Whatcha doing?"

Willow looked surprised for a moment, but only a moment. Her features quickly shifted back to their mask of pain and rage. "Get out of here," she hissed.

"Oh, no. You're not the only one with powers, you know. You man be a hopped-up uber-witch, but this archer can still split the wings off a fly at fifty paces."

Willow ignored him and went back to charging the idol, blasting it with another stream of energy. Xander stepped in front of the effigy again and winced in pain as he broke the magical connection. Willow growled, "You can't stop this!"

"Yeah, I get that. It's just…where else am I going to go? You've been my best friend my whole life. World's going to end, where else would I want to be?"

"You hate me!"

Xander shook his head. "I don't hate you, Willow. As mad as I was, I could never hate you. I love you."

"Is this the master plan? You're going to stop me by telling me that you love me?"

"Well, I was going to try a boxing glove arrow but somehow I thought you'd see that coming."

"Still making jokes."

"I'm not joking. I know you're in pain. I can't imagine the pain you're in. And I know you're about to do something apocalyptically evil and stupid and hey, I still want to hang. You're Willow."

"Don't call me that!"

"The first day of kindergarten you cried because you broke the yellow crayon and you were afraid to tell anyone. You've come pretty far, ending the world not a terrific notion, but the thing is, yeah, I love you. I love crayon-breaky Willow and I love scary-veiny Willow. So if I'm going out, it's here. You want to kill the world, you start with me. I've earned that."

"You think I won't?"

"It doesn't matter. I'll still love you."

"Shut-up!" Willow shouted, her face twisted in anger. She slashed at the air with her hand and Xander winced as three large cuts opened on his face. He touched his face and looked down at the blood on his fingers.

"I love you," he repeated. Willow slashed at the air again. Xander staggered but stayed on his feet, his face twisted in pain as the slashes ripped across the front of his costume. He looked up and their eyes met again. "I love…"

Willow reached up and a stream of energy shot out from her hand, striking Xander and knocking him to the ground before he could finish. He slowly pushed himself up, clutching his midsection. Willow's anger slowly turned to sorrow as she watched. Pain and death, that's all she had to give anymore, she thought to herself. There was no more love, no more joy. It had all slipped away, just like Tara's life.

Xander staggered to his feet and began moving toward her on hesitant legs. "I…love you."

"Shut-up," she commanded again, her voice quivering. Another bolt of magic shot out and struck Xander. He grunted in pain but stayed on his feet. The blasts were getting weaker. How could he say that? After what she'd done, after what she'd done to him. All she ever did was hurt the people she loved. She hurt Tara by abusing magic, and her trust. She was so afraid of losing Xander that she lashed out and pushed him away. She didn't deserve love anymore.

"I love you, Willow."

"Stop," she said weakly, as her tears started to come. She held up her hand again but nothing happened. Xander continued toward her. She could always tell when he was lying, she knew him too well. But his eyes held no deception now, only concern and empathy.

"I love you," he said again as he reached her. She struck out with her fists, hitting him in the chest as he pulled her into his arms. Tears streamed down her face as the agony of her grief rolled over her in waves. She succumbed to it, sinking to the ground and letting her head fall against Xander as she cried. Somewhere inside of her, her grip on the dark magic she had absorbed faded, and her black hair faded back to its original red. The pain of her loss and the shame of what she had done, what she had almost done, still ached in her chest. But there was another feeling there now too. It was hope, and she clung to it like a life preserver in an ocean of despair.

"I love you," Xander whispered softly as he held her. Somewhere behind them the glowing effigy began to fade.

*

Xander got into his truck and started the engine. He turned on the air conditioner and waited for it to cool him from the summer heat. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against the headrest, letting the white noise of the truck's engine lull him into a daze as a million and one thoughts ran through his head. But a few seconds of peace was all he was allotted before his cell phone rang. He growled as he picked up the wireless headset from his cup holder and pushed it into his ear.

"Hello."

"Xander, it's Ollie, where are you? I've been trying to call you for hours."

"I'm sitting in the parking lot in front of Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. I had to leave my phone in the truck, sorry."

"Is everything okay? The message you left me was kind of vague, just that the world was coming to an end and you'd be in Sunnydale if I needed you. Is anyone hurt?"

"You could say that. Willow's girlfriend was killed yesterday."

"Oh my god, what happened?"

"This guy Warren, he's been messing with Buffy all year. He came into her back yard with a gun and took a couple shots at her. Buffy took one in the shoulder. She's fine now. A stray bullet went through the upstairs window and hit Tara in the back, went right through her heart. Willow saw the whole thing. Can you imagine, Ollie? After everything they've been through, everything they've come up against, and just some guy with a gun…" he trailed off.

"Xander, I'm so sorry. How's Willow doing?"

"She didn't take it too well, and that's putting it mildly. She absorbed a lot of dark magic, then she went after him. She killed him, flayed him alive."

"What?!"

"Then she tried to end the world."

"Wait, Willow is the one who tried to end the world?! What happened?"

"I stopped her."

"Is she…"

"She's fine, physically anyway. I'm not so sure about the rest." Xander paused. "I can't even begin to imagine the kind of pain a person has to be in to go someplace like that, to want to end all life as we know it. My best friend, in that kind of pain, and I wasn't there for her because of some stupid fight we had two years ago!"

"You were there Xander, you saved her."

"I stopped her, I don't know about saving her. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"You should stay, be there for her."

"No, she doesn't need me now. Giles is taking her back to England, to some coven that can help her. They're leaving tomorrow."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Xander rubbed his face and let his head fall back against the seat again. "I'm fried, Ollie. I'm burning out. I'm being pulled in so many directions that I don't know which way is up anymore. Splitting my time between Steel City, Seattle, Sunnydale, and now this new Justice League thing that you want me to join…I can't keep up with it anymore. Maybe Willow was right, maybe I am just wasting my time."

"You don't really believe that. Nobody works as hard as you do unless they really want it, and I've never met anybody who wanted more than you."

"Maybe wanting it isn't enough anymore."

"Xander, listen to me. I'm going to tell you something that you already know, something that I told you a long time ago when this whole thing started. This isn't an easy life, especially for people like us. We have to work ten times harder than the big guys just to keep up. Nobody can keep that pace forever Xander, and you've been going full speed for the last four years. So it's only natural that you feel this way. It doesn't make you weak, it just makes you human, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. It might be time to make a few adjustments, that's all."

"What kind of adjustments?" Xander asked skeptically.

"Well, for starters, stop spreading yourself so thin. Maybe it's time to start thinking about leaving the Titans. Their roster is pretty full now, I think they can get by without you. Besides, you're not exactly a teenager anymore."

"Sounds like you're talking about hanging up my quiver."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about slowing down a little, that's all, so you don't keel over from exhaustion. Maybe the Justice League is exactly what you need right now."

"What are you talking about? How is joining another team supposed to help me slow down?"

"The Justice League isn't just another team. I'll admit, I was skeptical at first. It all seemed a little too 'Big Brother' to me, but maybe a bigger support system is exactly what guys like us need. Besides, some of these real powerful types, as well intentioned as they are, scare the crap out of me. Maybe what they need is guys like us to keep an eye on them, make sure they don't overstep their bounds."

"Exactly how big is this League?"

"Big. Near as I can figure, they've made contact with just about every mask and cape type all over the world, powered and non-powered. And they've almost all agreed to work with them in some capacity."

"Oh boy," Xander sighed. "You didn't drink the Kool-Aid, did you?"

"It's not like that, Xander. Come up to Seattle, let me introduce you to some people, make your own decision."

Xander sighed again, turning it over in his mind. It didn't feel right to just leave so soon after what happened, but there wasn't anything that he could do for Willow right now. And sitting around in Sunnydale waiting for her to come back would just make him feel even more powerless. He loved her, he had meant it when he told her that, but that didn't mean that things were suddenly fine between them and he couldn't pretend that they were. He wanted to fix things between him and Willow, but he just didn't know how.

"Give me a few days to help pick up the pieces here in Sunnydale and I'll head up."

"I'll see you in a few days then. Take care of yourself, Xander."

"You too, Ollie."

*


	4. Chapter 4

**Justice League Xander:  
An Arrow's Flight**

By Paradox761

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. I don't have any money anyway.

Spoilers: "Halloween" (BtVS), "Graduation" (BtVS), "Pangs" (BtVS), "Grave" (BtVS), and "Patriot Act" (JLU).

Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? (note: this is *not* YAHF)

Author's note: This story is part of the "Justice League Xander" series, the rest of which can be found at my website.

*

(4/?)

_April 2005_

_Somewhere on the outskirts of Metropolis_

It was a little after one o'clock in the morning, and the dark streets of the small suburban hamlet just north of Metropolis were mostly deserted. A lone figure in red was making his way on foot through the parking lot of a strip mall. He was limping slightly and covered with a generous coat of demon viscera, not to mention a fair amount of scratches and bruises. "Next time, I'm just blowing the whole damn building up," he muttered to himself.

It was a nest of Jaxo demons, holed up in a warehouse in a small industrial park right next to a housing development. They fed on the souls of innocence, that's what his research told him. In plainer terms, they went after children. And this particular group had somehow acquired a fleet of ice cream trucks. With summer just around the corner, Speedy shuddered to think about what could have happened. His research also told him that they were vulnerable to copper. However, none of the books he read mentioned that when their skin was pierced with, say, a copper arrowhead, their bodies exploded. What a mess. He managed to pick most of them off from a distance before he was spotted. The last two he had to fight hand to hand, and when he plunged one of his copper-headed arrows into the last one's chest, it exploded right in front of him. It was an experience that he would not soon forget.

As he often did when a mission came to a close, he found himself pondering his career with the Justice League. He had been a member for almost three years now. When he had first started, it was hard not to be awestruck. He was working with some of the biggest heavy hitters on the planet. In the beginning, his duty schedule was light and he wasn't chosen for many missions. They needed to assess his talents, they told him, to see what missions he would best be suited for. The truth was he had enjoyed the break that the lighter schedule had given him. He had more time to relax, more time to train, more time to spend with Ollie and play sidekick once in a while. He got to spend time on the Watchtower, the Justice League's space station, and he made friends with a lot of heroes from around the world. It was just what he needed, and he was glad that Ollie had convinced him to join. Then slowly but surely, he started to build a reputation. He was assigned as backup on a couple of missions involving the occult, and the League saw that he had a knack for it. Not magic or mysticism exactly, Dr. Fate was in no danger of losing his position as the League's leading expert in that field. But when it came to the grunt work of dealing with vampires or demons, Speedy had more experience than most of the other Leaguers. He knew how to ask the right questions and how to find the right answers when it came to how to kill what, and he knew how to go about it in the safest way possible. He became the go-to guy when something demonic needed to be dead. At first, Speedy was just happy that he could contribute something. But the last year he had spent almost exclusively on solo missions taking out one demon nest or another somewhere around the world and he was starting to grow tired of it.

For one thing, it wasn't what he had signed up for. If he wanted to fight demons, he could have stayed in Sunnydale. Of course Sunnydale was now a giant smoking crater, so chances were good that if he had stayed there that he'd be dead right now. Still, it nagged at him, and he kept playing that argument with Willow over and over again in his head. He told her, told himself, that he had left to find his own way because he wasn't cut out for that fight. But hadn't he proved otherwise at graduation, and then again on Thanksgiving? Could it be that he was so determined for Willow to accept him and the life that he had chosen, and so hurt by her harsh words that night, that he had ignored the point that she was trying to make, that he could do just as much good in Sunnydale as he could as Speedy in Seattle or Steel City. But then wasn't the real reason that she wanted him back in Sunnydale because she didn't trust him to be able to live his own life and make his own decisions without her there to watch over him? He could go back and forth like this all day, playing devil's advocate with himself, but the fact was it didn't matter. The past was the past, and there wasn't anything anyone could do to change it. He had had contact with Willow several times in the last three years, and few phone calls and emails, mostly on birthdays or holidays. All the conversations were the same, short and awkward. It was clear that both of them wanted to mend fences, but neither of them knew how to go about it.

Speedy reached the end of the parking lot, where there stood a four story brick building with a hand-written sign in the front window that read 'Discount Furniture Warehouse – Going Out of Business Sale!' The building was empty, and the roof was flat and mostly clear which made it the perfect place to park his Javelin where it would go unnoticed for a few days. He wasn't exactly operating covertly, but he also didn't want to draw any extra attention to himself that might filter back to his quarry and warn them that death was coming. As it was, the operation only took three days. One day to research, one day to acquire the copper he needed and have the arrowheads made, and the third and final day for planning, recon, and execution. Apart from his sure to be astronomically high dry-cleaning bill, the mission had gone perfectly. He should have been thrilled, but instead he felt oddly unsatisfied. He missed his friends.

Speedy took his bow off of his shoulder and retrieved a grappler arrow from his quiver. He attached a line to the arrow, knotted it, and shot it up onto the roof of the building. He tugged on the line to make sure it was secure before retrieving a small mechanical ascender from his belt and attaching it to the line. Activating the ascender, it pulled him up the line and onto the roof in less than a second. He retrieved the grappler arrow, detaching the line and letting it fall to the street, and replaced it in his quiver. The Javelin sat on the roof several yards away, its white finish and forward swept wings giving it a vaguely swan-like appearance. The Justice League kept a small fleet of the short range space craft aboard the Watchtower for transport back and forth to Earth. They weren't used for that as often anymore since the League started using the matter transporter, but Speedy still preferred them for missions because they allowed him to carry his research material with him at all times, not to mention a generous supply of trick arrows, and a spare costume or two.

Speedy retrieved a small remote control from his belt and used it to deactivate the Javelin's security system and power up the engines. He climbed inside and settled into the pilot's seat, setting his bow and quiver down next to him. He laid his head back and briefly considered if he should change his clothes now or wait until he got back to the Watchtower and could take a shower first. A blinking red light on the console in front of him caught his attention. It was the comm system indicating that there was a request from the Watchtower to check in as soon as he was able. They could have just as easily contacted him through the ear piece that all Leaguers wore at all times, but that was usually only done in cases of emergencies, especially if someone was already in the middle of a mission as he had been. It could just be a request for a status report, but something in Speedy's gut told him that it was more. He typed a few commands into the console and a moment later his comm was connected to the Watchtower. The face of an African-American man with a large letter T painted on his face appeared on the monitor in the Javelin's console.

"Watchtower, Mr. Terrific here," he answered.

"Hey Mr. T, what's the what? Pity any fools lately?"

"That joke got old two years ago, Speedy," Terrific answered, somewhat annoyed. "You look like Hell, I take that to mean that you've completed your mission."

"Twelve dead Jaxo demons, you can send a clean-up team whenever you're ready. Tell them to bring their galoshes."

"I know it's short notice, but I have another assignment for you."

"Let me guess, undercover work. You need me to infiltrate a gang of high society jewel thieves based on the French Rivera, seduce their stunningly gorgeous ringleader, and get her to reveal the location of the secret microfilm which contains the top secret recipe for the best cup of cappuccino in the universe! Come on, I'm ready for the big leagues, put me in coach! What do you say, should I get my tuxedo pressed?"

"Actually, it's vampires."

"Fuck!" Speedy exclaimed, not bothering to hide his displeasure.

"Tell me how you really feel," Mr. Terrific deadpanned. "Look, these aren't your typical bloodsuckers. They're holed up somewhere on the South side of Gotham. The intel we have on them is sketchy, but they're keeping a low profile so we think they're up to something. Could be big."

"Join the Justice League, meet new and interesting creatures, and then kill them," Speedy muttered mockingly. "I can do other things too you know, I'm not just some demon killing machine that…wait a minute, did you say Gotham?" Terrific nodded. "Since when does the Bat let junior leaguers like me anywhere near Gotham? Does he know about this?"

"Batman is on another operation overseas, he recommended you for this mission," Terrific answered.

Speedy's eyes widened. "He did? Really? He asked for me by name?"

"Actually his exact words were 'Send the archer kid, he's good at that kind of stuff'."

"He…he said I was good?"

"Yeah, but I guess I'll have to tell him that you can't do it because you're not a demon killing ma…"

"Wait, wait, wait! Let's not be hasty here! Let me consider it for a moment. Okay, I'll do it."

Mr. Terrific smiled. "Glad to hear it."

"So what have you got?"

"Like I said, it's not much. There's an underground vampire bar called The Bloodbath, we don't have an exact location. According to our sources there's some kind of big meeting going down there tomorrow night."

Speedy nodded. "It's a place to start."

*

The flight from Metropolis to Gotham was uneventful. Mr. Terrific had informed Speedy that arrangements had already been made for his arrival. One bonus to working in Gotham City, the League had an agreement with Wayne Enterprises to use Wayne Towers as a base of operations whenever they were working in the city. Speedy was given access to a penthouse apartment as well as the helipad on the roof so he didn't have to worry about where he was going to park his Javelin. Speedy wasn't quite sure what Bruce Wayne got out of the deal, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The apartment gave him a place to take a shower and catch a few hours sleep before hitting the street to do a little recon to find the location of The Bloodbath. A few visits to known demon haunts in the city, a few discreet inquiries and he learned where the bar was located. The word on the street also confirmed the intel that he had gotten from Terrific, that there was a big meeting that night. Rumors ranged from apocalypse cult to Oprah book club meeting, but two things were constant. It was very big and it was very secret. Ever since the activation spell two years earlier that had awakened thousands of slayers all over the world, vampires had started operating differently, especially in big cities. They were more underground, more cautious and less brazen. After all, there was no telling where a slayer could be. Why call attention to themselves?

A quick stop at a magic shop for a talisman that would mask his scent and a stop back at Wayne Towers for a change of clothes and he was ready. A long black coat to cover his costume and hide his bow and quiver, and a pair of wrap around sunglasses to go over his mask. He made it to The Bloodbath and was let in with little fanfare, the talisman having magically hidden his human scent from the vampire working the door. To call the bar a dive would be unfair to dives. To call it a rats' nest would be more accurate, though probably insulting to the rats. It was a dirty, musty, poorly lit basement under an abandoned building, and it smelled of blood and decay. It took all of the willpower that he could muster not to let the revulsion he felt show on his face. On one side of the room sat the bar, a lone vampire standing behind it dispensing blood or yak urine or whatever the hell else vampires drank to get wasted. The rest of the room was filled with tables, no two alike. One in particular caught his eye. A man in a long red coat sat with his back to the corner and a fedora hat pulled down to hide his eyes. They looked to be playing some kind of card game, and the man in red smiled as he laid down the cards in his hand for the rest of the table to see. There were growls and grumblings from the other players and a moment later a basket filled with kittens was pushed across the table toward the man in red.

Xander spotted an empty stool at the end of the bar and made his way over to it. He scanned the room casually as he walked, looking for other exits. There was a single door on the back wall with a vampire seated in a chair next to it trying to hard to look nonchalant. He was burly and looked to be a biker, the perfect fit for hired muscle. Xander sat with his back to the wall and when the bartender approached he just pointed to another drink that was sitting on the bar and handed the bartender some money. A glass was set down before him and he pretended to look at it while he scanned the room, paying particular attention to the back door.

Twenty minutes passed before another figure entered the bar. He was well dressed, wearing a suit and tie, which made him look about as out of place in The Bloodbath as Xander felt. If any of the other patrons thought it strange they gave no indication. The man spoke to the bartender briefly before making his way to the back and entering the door with a nod from the biker. Fifteen minutes after that, another man entered the bar, also wearing a suit. He made his way into the back room as well. Twenty minutes later, two more men. Ten minutes after that, another. Xander was positive now that the meeting that he had come to observe was taking place in that back room and he started considering what his options were. He could probably get past the biker, but not without raising suspicion from everyone else in the room. He could leave and venture into the building above, try to find another way to access the room, maybe through the ventilation system. It was risky though, there was no guarantee that he would be able to find a way in. He could wait and see if any other attendees for the meeting came, try to plant a bug on them. He was sure he had a listening device in his belt somewhere. That seemed risky too though, hard to do without drawing attention to himself. He could go back outside and wait for them to leave and then follow one of them. But that would mean missing the meeting, and how would he decide which one to follow?

Xander was still sitting at the bar calculating his next move when trouble walked in, in the form of six young women. As his eyes fell on the woman standing in the front of the group he again had to force his face to maintain a neutral expression. Of all the vampire bars in all the world, why did she have to walk into this one? He immediately turned back toward the bar and lowered his head. He didn't need her recognizing him and blowing his cover. It was possible that he could still salvage this little operation. But all of that went out the window as soon as he realized that all other activity in the bar had stopped, and every eye was on the new arrivals standing in the front of the room. If she had been hoping for an inconspicuous entrance she was sure to be disappointed. There were only two reasons that a group of young, good looking women would enter an establishment like this. The first was dinner, and there wasn't one vampire in that room stupid enough to think that it was dinner time. The second meant that the shit was about to hit the fan.

Willow strode up to the bar purposefully, and the five slayers with her followed her closely. Xander would have been able to tell that they were slayers even if he hadn't inferred it from Willow's presence. The way they moved, the way they carried themselves, it projected power and grace. Unfortunately for them however, they did not project confidence. And if there was one thing that vampires could smell better than blood, it was fear. Willow made eye contact with the bartender and he walked over. "What can I get you ladies?" he asked.

"How about some information?"

Subtle Willow, very subtle, Xander thought. The room had gotten so quiet that he could actually hear the kittens mewing from the poker table behind him.

"I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Are you sure about that?" Willow pressed, trying her best to be intimidating. "My friends and I heard that there's something big going on here tonight, and we want in on it."

Xander could feel the mood of the room slowly shift from cautious curiosity to open hostility. Whether it was the fact that their sanctuary had been so easily infiltrated by the enemy or the gall over the sloppy attempt at subterfuge, Xander didn't know or frankly care. The vampires at the bar were openly eyeing them now, and some of the vampires at the tables were starting to get up and make their way to the bar. They outnumbered the slayers at least five to one, and it was clear that they were going to try to use their numbers to their advantage. Normally those kind of odds wouldn't worry Xander at all, but these slayers didn't strike him as field veterans. In fact, some of them were starting to look down right panicky.

There was one girl in particular, standing closest to Xander, with short blonde hair and a young face. Her eyes were darting back and forth like a nervous animal, and her hand was in her coat pocket, clutching what he could only guess was a stake. There was a vampire standing behind her, breathing down her neck, staring at her so intently that she could surely feel his eyes on the back of her head. That's when it happened. Willow was still trying to convince the bartender to tell her what she wanted to know, when the vampire standing behind the blonde brushed up against her. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, and in one swift motion she pulled the stake from her pocket and slammed it into his chest. Her aim was true, and the vamp exploded into a cloud of dust. That's when all hell broke loose.

Three things happened at once. The vampires crowding the bar swarmed the slayers, attacking them from every direction. At the same time the biker vamp guarding the back room ducked inside and closed the door behind him. And a few feet from him in the back corner of the bar, the man in the long red coat stood up and turned over the poker table, sending a half a dozen glasses crashing to the floor. He reached into his coat with a cross draw and pulled out two of the strangest looking guns that Xander had ever seen. When he lifted his head up, Xander could see the part of his face that the brim of his fedora had been hiding and saw a red mask covering his eyes. He wasn't a vampire at all, it was the Crimson Avenger. He pistol whipped the vampire closest to him, then brought his other gun around and fired. A glob of green goo shot out from the gun and struck the vampire, sticking him to the wall like a bug. Xander looked back to the door and briefly considering going inside. Any hopes at eavesdropping on the meeting were gone, but he might be able to corner one or two of the participants and question them before they had a chance to flee. A quick glance back toward the slayers and he revised that thought. They were fighting hard, but they weren't fighting together. They hadn't established a perimeter around themselves and the vamps kept getting in behind them, attacking unseen. The slayers were holding their own, but they were becoming overwhelmed.

Shedding his coat and sunglasses, Speedy jumped up onto the bar and took up a position to best backup the slayers. He came prepared, with a quiver full of wood tipped arrows. He pulled an arrow out and knotted it, taking quick but careful aim he fired, and the bartender disintegrated into ash as the arrow pierced his heart. The slayers were already positioned against the bar. If he could keep the vampires from getting behind it, it would make it easier for the slayers to establish a stronger perimeter and keep the bloodsuckers from sneaking up on them. The Crimson Avenger caught his eye and gave him a quick nod with a smile, acknowledging that the odds were beginning to sway in their favor. "Crim, block the other side of the bar!" Speedy called out to his fellow Leaguer. The Avenger nodded and made his way through the room, cutting through the vampires with his gadget guns.

He took position at the other end of the bar and Speedy started picking off any vamp that he could get a clear shot at, paying careful attention to any that may be trying to get behind the slayers. Willow, who had been knocked to the ground during the initial rush and subsequently pinned against the bar by the sheer mass of bodies, finally made it back to her feet. It was probably less than a minute since the battle had begun, but already the tide was turning in their favor. She locked eyes with Speedy, a look of surprise on her face, maybe even relief. They shared the look for only a moment before she turned back to the fight and started casting spells against their attackers.

Once Speedy was sure that Willow and the slayers had things well in hand, he hopped down off the bar and headed for the back room. He bound inside, his bow at the ready, but the room was empty. A long conference table and a few overturned chairs the only evidence of anyone's presence. Another door on the other side of the room hung open. Speedy ran through it and up a flight of stairs which led to another door, which opened out into the alley. He heard the sound of screeching tires, but there wasn't a trace of the biker or any of the well dressed vamps anywhere. He cursed under his breath before making his way back into the building and down the stairs. He did a cursory search of the conference room for any evidence that could lead him to any of the meeting's participants, but there was nothing.

Back in the barroom, the sounds of the fight had died down to almost nothing. Speedy walked back in to see that all the vampires were either dust or had escaped. All except for the vampire that The Crimson Avenger had stuck to the wall with his goo gun, he was still struggling in vane to free himself.

"I should have known the League would send you eventually," the Avenger said, crossing the room with a smile on his face. He extended his hand as he got closer. "Good to see you, Speedy," he said as they shook hands.

"You too, Crim," Speedy replied. "It's been a while."

"At least two years, since that thing in Marrakesh."

"That's right, you were there for that," Speedy said, nodding.

"Half the League was there for that, that thing was huge," the Avenger pointed out. "What was it called again?"

"Ascended demon," Speedy answered.

Willow was on the other side of the room, making sure that her slayers weren't injured. Her head popped up when she heard Speedy's answer. "What?" But neither of the Leaguers heard her.

"You did some damage with those incendiary arrows of yours if I recall."

"I pissed it off. Superman did most of the heavy lifting that day." The Avenger just nodded in agreement. "So what are you doing here, Mr. T didn't say anything about any other Leaguers in town."

"I'm not here on League business, just happened to be passing through. I was here six months ago with Batman on a mission, that's when we first noticed the vampires in town acting strange. So when I heard that something big was going down tonight, I thought it might be worth checking out."

Willow was slowly making her way across the barroom toward the pair of costumed heroes.

"Strange how?" Speedy asked.

"Secretive, cautious, not as bold."

"I've noticed that too, in most of the larger population centers around the world," Speedy said. "It's a reaction to the activation spell."

"It was more than that. These vamps were organized, almost…disciplined. There have been rumors."

Speedy nodded. "I think I know what you mean. I've heard those rumors too."

"What rumors?" Willow asked.

Speedy turned, not realizing that she was standing right behind him. For the first time since the fight ended they looked at each other. It was the first time they had seen each other in person for almost three years. The silence grew longer as neither of them seemed to know what to say to the other, so they just stared. The slayers and the Crimson Avenger seemed to notice too. Somebody cleared their throat just to break the silence.

"Crim, this is Willow Rosenberg, Watchers Council," Speedy finally said, shaking himself out of his daze. "Willow, this is the Crimson Avenger, Justice League."

The Avenger reached up and touched the brim of his hat. "Ma'am," he said in greeting. "Watchers Council, eh? I guess that makes you fine young ladies slayers. A pleasure," he said, tipping his hat again in their direction. He made his way over to them and started making conversation.

That's when Speedy noticed some of the slayers were openly staring at him, almost literally with their mouths agape. Something about the look in their eyes reminded him of his days with the Titans, the throngs of girls screaming at him in the streets like he was one of the Beatles. That cover of Tiger Beat had been a bad idea. He never should have let Cordelia talk him into it.

He noticed Willow staring at him again, like she was afraid if she took her eyes off of him that he would disappear. "It's good to see you again, Willow," he said. And he found that he fully meant it. As strained as their friendship had been these past few years, something about seeing her again reminded him about why he cared so much about her in the first place.

"It's good to see you too, Xa…Speedy."

"So, what brings you to this side of the pond," Speedy asked.

"The Council still has Watchers in the States," Willow answered. "We heard the same information that I'm sure you did, that something major was happening here tonight."

Speedy's brow furrowed. Something didn't add up. "So, the Watchers thought it was important enough to send you, their most powerful magic user, but for backup they gave you a team of rookie slayers?"

Willow frowned. "Let's just say I took a personal interest in this mission. It was my choice to come, and I took who was available."

Speedy just nodded. It still didn't add up but he didn't push the issue. "Fair enough."

Somewhere across the room he absently noticed as a couple of the slayers became interested in the vampire who was stuck to the wall. One of them, a brunette with a pony tail and a leather jacket, pulled out a stake and was getting ready to use it when Speedy called out. "Wait, stop!" If the slayer heard him, she gave no indication. Speedy crossed the room quickly and put a hand on her wrist. "I said, stop."

She wrenched her arm free with a little more force than necessary and looked at Speedy like he was something that she had just scraped off of her shoe. Clearly not a Tiger Beat reader, he thought. "I don't know why you people are here, but we came here to *kill* vampires," she spat venomously. The inflection she put on 'you people' was particularly angry.

Any other time, he may have let the comment go, but Speedy was not having a good night. "I've killed more vampires than you've ever *seen*, little girl! And thanks to this little stunt of yours, I had to stop and save your asses before I could do what I came here to do, which is find out what this meeting was about. And I'm not going to let you kill the only source of information that we have left!"

"You son of a…"

"Victoria!" Willow's voice boomed like a whip crack. "Stand down."

The dark haired slayer backed off, shooting Speedy a glare that could make a grown man wet himself. The rest of the slayers' expressions changed as well. Hero worship time was apparently over for the time being. He looked over at Willow and saw that she was clearly angry. Though whether it was at him, at her slayers, or at the situation in general, he wasn't sure.

Speedy turned to regard the vampire stuck to the wall. He looked jumpy and scared, his near demise obviously at the forefront of his mind. Speedy briefly wondered if the Crimson Avenger had chosen this vampire specifically, judging him to be the easiest to interrogate. He had been one of his former poker buddies. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he focused on the vampire. He would need to establish his authority, make this vamp believe that he was the one in charge here. His recent outburst should do well to reaffirm that. "All right blood-sucker, here's the deal. You tell me what I want to know, and you get to continue to not breathe."

"I don't know anything!" he insisted.

Speedy shook his head. "See, I don't think that's true. And the longer you draw this out, the angrier my friends are going to get. And the next time that one over there decides to stick a stake in your chest, I might not be as inclined to stop her."

"Okay, okay!" the vamp pleaded. The presence of so many slayers in a single room seemed to be having the desired effect.

"What was going on in that back room tonight?" Speedy asked.

"It was a meeting, between the heads of the four families and their lieutenants."

"The four families of what?" Speedy asked.

The vampire looked reluctant to continue. "If they find out I squealed, I'm as good as dust."

"And if you don't, same outcome only much quicker," Speedy said. "So what's it going to be?" The vamp remained silent. Speedy shrugged and turned to walk away. "You're funeral."

"No, wait, wait! It's the vampire mafia, okay! And that's all I know, I swear! I'm just a low level goon, I hustle card games for cats!"

"What were they meeting about?"

"The same thing they always meet about, territory. Gotham is still no man's land, they haven't decided who gets what yet."

"Is that why they meet here, because it's neutral territory?" The vamp just nodded. "How long have they been here?"

"Few months."

"I want names."

"I don't have any names, I swear!

"How big are they? What cities?"

"Metropolis, Chicago, Detroit, maybe Central City. It's all rumors, nobody talks about anything, it's all need-to-know. Some vamps swear it doesn't exist, others say it's bigger than the human mob."

Speedy turned and started toward the bar. He motioned for Willow and the Crimson Avenger to join him. Once he was sure that they were out of earshot, he asked them what they thought.

"Vampire mafia?" Willow repeated. "It's ridiculous, there's no such thing."

"I wouldn't be so sure," the Avenger said. "I've heard these same rumors, they've been persisting for years. Ever since one of Rupert Thorne's social clubs got hit, here in Gotham. They found a lot of blood, but no bodies. The word on the street was that they were all turned."

Speedy nodded. "It makes sense. If the Powers That Be are all about balance, then this is the perfect reaction to the activation spell. If the slayers get organized, then it stands to reason that the vampires would get organized in response."

"So then why haven't we heard anything about them until now?" Willow asked.

"If they really have been in Gotham for months, and the League is just learning about it now, they must be operating with a seriously low profile," Speedy surmised.

"Makes sense," Crimson Avenger agreed. "Their best defense would be in making sure that the Watchers don't even know that they exist. The cities that he mentioned, do the Watchers have a major presence in any of them?"

"No, they don't," Willow admitted.

"This is a tremendous opportunity," the Avenger added. "If the leaders of the vampire mafia are here in Gotham and we can take them out…"

"Then we can cut the head off of this snake before it bites us," Speedy finished.

"The League sent you here for this, Speedy," the Avenger said. "I defer to your expertise. What's our next move?"

Speedy was about to answer when Willow interrupted. "Expertise? Speedy, don't you think you're getting in a little over your head here?"

Speedy leveled a glare at her that could have melted glass. The Crimson Avenger for his part looked both puzzled and uncomfortable. "Crim, could you excuse us for a moment."

"Of course," he answered, taking his leave as quickly as humanly possible. He decided to busy himself by gathering together the kittens into the basket that he had won earlier in the poker game in the opposite corner of the room.

Speedy seemed to be trying to chose his next words very carefully. "Where the hell do you get off…"

"Xander, I'm just trying to…"

"You have no right to tell me what's over my head, do you understand that?! This is what I do Willow, this is all I do! I've worked damn hard at it since I was seventeen years old and I've earned the respect of my colleagues, even if I haven't earned yours!"

"Xander, that's not what I…"

"Do you think I was given this assignment by accident?! I know what I'm doing here. I'm not the one who bumbled their way in here with a half assed plan and five newbie slayers and almost got them all killed. Not to mention completely blowing any chance I might have had to get into that meeting."

"I've been doing this just as long as you have, I think I know what I'm doing!" Willow protested.

"Really? Before tonight, when was the last time that you were in the field?" Speedy didn't wait for an answer. "This isn't Willy's Alibi Room and this isn't Sunnydale. It's Gotham City, and things work differently here. Now if you want to pull your head out of your ass and accept the fact that there may be people in this world who know more about something than you do, then maybe we can work together on this. Frankly, we could both use the help. What do you say?" Speedy extended his hand. He didn't want to have this fight with her, not now and not ever. But the way he saw it, they needed each other right now, and things couldn't continue without there being some kind of understanding between them.

Willow took his hand and shook it. She didn't seem happy either, there was so much unresolved between them, but she seemed to accept that this wasn't the time or place to hash it through. "Agreed," she said simply. "So, what do you think we should do next?"

"We need to regroup, and someplace a little more private than here."

Willow nodded. "We have a motel room in town, we can do it there."

Speedy smiled despite himself. He reached into a pocket of his utility belt and pulled out a business card. "Head to Wayne Towers, show the man at the front desk this card. He'll tell you where to go."

Willow looked down at the card. It had a Justice League logo emblazoned on it, along with a smaller Wayne Towers logo below it. She flipped it over and saw a series of numbers on the back. She looked back up to Speedy, but he was already walking across the room toward the Crimson Avenger. She made her way back to her slayers to gather them up and head out.

"Crim, regroup at Wayne Towers," Speedy said to his fellow Leaguer. "We'll figure out or next move there."

The Avenger nodded and held up his basket of kittens. "I just need to stop off at the animal shelter and I'll be on my way."

Speedy nodded and started toward the back room to make his way out through the alley. "Hey, what about me?!" the vampire on the wall spoke up. "You said you'd let me go."

Speedy smiled. "I said we wouldn't dust you, I never said anything about letting you go."

"You can't just leave me here! How am I supposed to get down, no one will ever find me!"

"True, considering what happened here tonight, no vampire will probably ever set foot in here again. But look on the bright side, maybe the rats will chew you free. Should only take a couple of decades."

The vampire card shark continued to yell and struggle while Speedy turned to leave again. From the corner of his eye he could see the dark haired slayer across the room, Victoria, smirking as Willow led them out through the front door.

*


	5. Chapter 5

Justice League Xander:

An Arrow's Flight

By Paradox761

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, nor do I claim to. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue. I don't have any money anyway.

Spoilers: "Halloween" (BtVS), "Graduation" (BtVS), "Pangs" (BtVS), "Grave" (BtVS), and "Patriot Act" (JLU).

Summary: When Xander dresses as one of his heroes for Halloween, the path his life takes is changed forever. Will his friends be able to deal with the choices he makes? (note: this is *not* YAHF)

Author's note: This story is part of the "Justice League Xander" series, the rest of which can be found at my website.

(5/?)

A bell sounding the elevator's arrival rang as the doors opened into the luxury penthouse that sat at the top of Wayne Towers. Willow Rosenberg and the five slayers that made up her team stepped off and took in their surroundings with wide eyes and slack jaws. "I guess the Justice League pays pretty well," one of the slayers commented.

Willow heard Xander's voice coming from the other room. It sounded like he was talking to someone else. She lead the slayers down the hall and into the living room. Xander stood, still in costume, talking to another masked man via a large flat screen monitor which hung on the wall. Xander turned and waved Willow over. "Why don't you girls take a look around," Willow said. "But don't touch anything, please." The slayers dispersed and Willow crossed the living room.

"So what you're saying is that you blew any chance that you had to observe the meeting secretly," the man on the monitor said. Willow recognized him now that she was closer, Mr. Terrific.

"Yes, but we were able to interrogate one of the vampires from the bar and gained some information. It looks like what we're dealing with here is the vampire mafia," Speedy said. "The meeting was between the heads of the four families, to divvy up territory in Gotham."

Mr. Terrific arched an eyebrow. "Then this is even bigger than we thought."

"How much does the League know about the mafia?" Speedy asked.

"Not much I'm afraid. It's never been sufficiently confirmed that they even exist. Give me a moment." Terrific turned his head slightly, probably to look at another monitor where he was accessing more information from the Watchtower computer.

Speedy turned to face Willow. "So, you found the place okay?" he asked with a smirk. The tallest building in Gotham City was not easy to miss.

Willowed smirked back. "How can you afford a penthouse in Wayne Towers?" she asked.

"I can't. Bruce Wayne lets the League use it whenever we're in town."

Willow seemed to consider that for a moment. "Why?"

It was always easier to believe the worst about the super rich. Xander had felt the same way before he met Ollie. He had never met Bruce Wayne before, but he wasn't above assuming an altruistic motive from Gotham's richest and most favorite son. "Maybe he's just a nice guy like that," he said. "Or maybe Batman threatened to break his thumbs, I don't know. I always got the impression that the Bat doesn't like him very much."

"What's Batman like in person?"

Speedy shrugged. "Quiet, determined, brooding, has a habit of disappearing from rooms without making a sound. He's not too unlike a certain souled vampire that we both know and tolerate."

On the screen, Mr. Terrific had turned his attention back to them. "I can give you a name, I'm afraid that it's all we have. Artemis Graymore. A vampire, believed to be very old. His name has come up several times with relation to the vampire mafia. As you know Speedy, this isn't exactly something that the League keeps extensive files on."

Speedy glanced back toward Willow. "But Watchers just might," he said, more to himself. "Mr. T, allow me to introduce Willow Rosenberg of the Watchers Council. Willow, this is Mr. Terrific. Willow is the one who…"

"Compromised your mission," Mr. Terrific finished. "Speedy, I have to say I'm surprised. If this is indicative of the way these people operate, I have to wonder about your recommendation to the League that we work more closely with them."

Speedy surprised Willow by becoming offended before she had a chance to. "The Watchers and the slayers have been saving the world since most people thought it was still flat. They have access to untold amounts of knowledge regarding the occult with contacts and allies all over the world. To be fair, they are operating with a new model now that there are thousands of active slayers instead of just one, and the team that was sent here was operating on spotty intelligence. But if there was more cooperation between our two groups, we could avoid these embarrassing little overlaps."

"A persuasive argument indeed, but I'm not the one you need to convince."

"Whether they're convinced or not, you can tell the seven that this just became a joint mission," Speedy said.

Mr. Terrific frowned. "You haven't been authorized to make that decision, Speedy."

"The decision made me. Five slayers just fell into my lap, what am I supposed to do, tell them to go home? They wouldn't even if I did. I'm not going to let red tape keep me from doing my job."

Terrific nodded, his expression sympathetic. "I'll report this to the seven, what happens to you after that will be their decision."

"Understood. Speedy out."

Mr. Terrific's face winked off the monitor, to be replaced by the Justice League logo. "I hope you're not going to get into any trouble for this," Willow said.

Speedy shook his head. "Nothing I can't handle. I've been trying to convince the League for years to pursue a more active relationship with the Watchers." Of course, if the League had the cooperation of the Watchers then he would no longer have to be their go to guy for all things that went bump in the night, which was a plus. But Willow didn't need to know about that particular ulterior motive. "Maybe this mission can convince them that I'm right."

"The Council can be just as stubborn. I'm not sure if they will be any more receptive to the idea."

"I've spoken to Giles about it before, he seemed open minded about the idea. I think the two organizations could have a good working relationship if they could just sit down together and talk."

"So, are these the kinds of missions that the League has been sending you on lately?" Willow asked.

Speedy inwardly winced. He knew that question was coming. It was Willow's subtle way of calling him a hypocrite. He had told her that this wasn't his fight, and now here he was, fighting it. He didn't know if that made him a hypocrite, he was only doing what he had always done, whatever was asked of him. It's true, he wasn't happy about being pigeon holed, he felt that he had more to offer the League than just killing demons, but if that was what they needed him to do then that's what he would do. He wasn't ashamed of what he did, so he answered the question honestly.

"Pretty much," Speedy said. "They try to fit the right person to the right mission, and somewhere along the way they decided that I had a knack for this type of work, so here I am. So what about you, what have you been up to lately?"

"Oh, you know, same old grind. Training new slayers, researching the latest apocalypse, that type of thing."

"So what brought you all the way out here?"

Willow broke eye contact and shrugged her shoulders in a vague way that didn't really mean anything. She always was a terrible liar. "Oh, I just wanted to get away for a while, and it seemed like a good chance to get some of the newer slayers out into the field, get their feet wet."

Speedy smirked. More like throwing them into the deep end of the ocean, he thought wryly. She was hiding something. He thought back to their conversation at the bar. 'Let's just say I took a personal interest in this mission,' she had said. What did that mean? What could be personal to her about a bunch of vampires meeting in Gotham City? And why was she being so elusive about it?

Before he had the chance to pursue the issue further, the slayers came into the room. Victoria, the one that he had faced off with in the bar, stood at the front of the pack. Willow cleared her throat. "We didn't get the chance to make formal introductions earlier. Speedy, this is Chloe," she said, indicating the blond with the young face who had inadvertently started the ruckus at the bar earlier. She nodded and smiled shyly. "This is Liz." A tall red head with freckles on the bridge of her nose smiled and offered a small wave. "Bianca." A dark haired girl with a dark complexion nodded. "In the back, that's Lu." An Asian girl with dark eyes and raven black hair also nodded. "And Victoria you've already met. Girls, this is Speedy." Speedy nodded in return.

"So what's our next move?" Victoria asked. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared at Speedy challengingly, as though she were daring him to give her an answer that she didn't like.

"We need more information about what we're up against," he answered.

She sneered, which Speedy guessed would have been her reaction no matter what he had said. "What a surprise, you want to hang out in your luxury penthouse and wait for the answers to come to you. We should be out there on the streets, finding these guys."

"And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Speedy asked. "Turn over every rock in Gotham and hope they come scurrying out?"

"It's better than sitting here and doing nothing!"

Speedy sighed. He suddenly found himself with a newfound respect for those with the job of training these headstrong young women. "A wise man once told me that if I ever find myself in a position where I don't know what to do, the reason will be most likely because I don't have enough information to make a decision. The next logical course of action then is to gather said information, because acting without it could be far more dangerous than doing nothing at all."

Victoria sneered again. "Let me guess, your buddy the Robin Hood wannabe?"

Speedy cast a glance toward Willow, his expression one of accusatory understanding. "Actually," Willow spoke up. "Rupert Giles said that." Her eyes met Speedy's. "A long time ago." She almost looked apologetic. "Can you girls give us a moment please?"

Speedy hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "The kitchen is through there," he said, remembering that slayer metabolism often called for copious late night snacks. "Help yourself." Willow nodded in approval and the slayers slowly filed out of the room.

There was only one other person that Speedy could think of who had had a similar attitude toward his mentor, and that was Willow. Suddenly Victoria's behavior and attitude toward costumed heroes seemed to make sense. "Someone has been telling tales out of school," Speedy accused. "Or perhaps in school. Are you and her…" Speedy let the question trail off, the meaning obvious.

"No!" Willow answered defensively. She then seemed to realize that what he was implying wasn't exactly without precedent and said the word again more gently. "No. I'm not involved with anyone at the moment." Speedy nodded, gesturing with his hand that she should continue. He was clearly waiting for an explanation. "Speedy's exploits on the Hellmouth during graduation and Thanksgiving may have been covered during some of our lessons, but your identity is safe, I promise you."

It wasn't exactly an explanation of Victoria's attitude, but Speedy was satisfied. He could fill in the blanks himself, and he trusted that Willow was telling the truth when she said that his identity was still a secret. Still, it hurt him that after all these years, she clearly still harbored feelings of disapproval regarding the choices that he had made in his life.

The two former slayerettes were spared from their awkward silence by the arrival of the elevator, and with it the Crimson Avenger. "Sorry I'm late," he said, strolling into the living with his hands casually in his coat pockets. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find an animal shelter that's open this time of night?" A few of the slayers wandered back into the room upon hearing the Avenger's arrival. "So what's our next move?" he asked, unknowingly echoing Victoria's earlier question.

"Research," Speedy said. "Do you still have your contacts in the police department?"

Crim nodded. "Sure."

"I want you to find the police report from the incident at the Rupert Thorne social club that you told me about. Also, I want you to see if you can find similar reports from Metropolis, Chicago, Detroit or Central City involving missing mobsters. Get pictures of the missing if you can so we can try to match them with the faces we saw at the Bloodbath tonight."

"You got it."

"If you need an extra pair of eyes or two, grab a couple of slayers, I'm sure they'll be happy to help," Speedy added, ignoring the dirty looks that he got.

"And what are we going to do?" Willow asked.

"Artemis Graymore," Speedy said. "If he's as old as our intel says, the Watchers should have a file on him. I have a feeling that he may be the one behind all of this."

Willow nodded. "Do you have a computer that I can use?"

"In the study, through here," Speedy said, making his way through the penthouse. "Come on, I'll show you."

888888888888888888888

A couple of hours later, the group gathered in the penthouse study. It was a cozy room with leather furniture and bookshelves lining the walls, filled with everything from reference material to the latest pulp fiction. A large oak desk sat at one end with a computer on it and a high backed leather arm chair behind it. Speedy sat at the desk while the slayers occupied the leather sofa and loveseat. The Crimson Avenger stood in the corner by the door, fingering a stack of manila envelopes that he held. Willow stood next to the desk, leaning down and looking at the computer monitor which she had turned to face her. "Okay, let's go over what we have so far," Speedy said. "Willow, why don't you start."

Willow nodded as she stood up straight and turned to address the room. "We started with the name that the Justice League gave us, Artemis Graymore. As it turns out, the Watchers Council does have a file on him." She picked a piece of paper up off the desk and tacked it to the bulletin board which hung on the wall behind her. It was a scan of an oil painting, depicting a stern looking man with piercing blue eyes and a high forehead with jet black hair. His face was twisted into a sneer of contempt. The painting was so disturbing that Speedy half expected Willow to turn back around with a demon's face and shout 'I, Willow, am Viggo! Be gone pitiful half men!'. When Willow turned around however, her face was intact. "This is an oil painting that Graymore had commissioned in 1780, it's the only image that we have of him. The file only chronicles a handful of encounters with him over the past three centuries, which isn't a good sign."

"Why not?" Victoria asked.

Speedy answered. "Because it means that he's smart enough to evade detection, and that he has the wherewithal and the patience to operate under the radar when he needs to."

Willow continued. "I've been pouring through the information that we have on these encounters to find something useful. His actual age isn't known, but the first confirmed contact with him is over 300 years ago, in Scotland. He was terrorizing a small farming community. He had them convinced that he was some kind of deity, demanding sacrifices from them to insure the health of their crops. This could mean that he's too lazy to hunt, which is unlikely. More likely he enjoys being worshiped and feeling superior to humans, tricking them into giving him victims willingly without having to lift a finger. This suggests that he is highly intelligent, with an organized personality and a need to be in control."

"This is an alpha dog," Speedy added. "Almost every incident in the file describes a group of loyal followers, willing to stand and fight and die to make sure that their master can escape when the time comes."

"Subsequent encounters with Graymore over the centuries took place in Germany, Turkey, Taiwan, and most recently San Francisco in 1939," Willow said.

"So, this guy hasn't said boo for almost 70 years?" Bianca asked. "What makes you so sure that he's our guy?"

"For one thing, he fits the profile," Speedy answered. "To put something like this together, you would need an intelligent and organized mind, someone who can inspire both loyalty and fear. And second, the intel that we got from the League. If they say that he's involved with the vampire mafia, then he's involved, you can take that to the bank."

Victoria snorted, but no one else commented.

"One watcher described him in his diary as 'cunning, methodical, and cruel beyond measure.' That same watcher and his slayer were later lured into an ambush by Graymore and killed," Willow said. "All total, Graymore is believed to have killed two slayers and four watchers."

"So how do we find him?" Victoria asked.

"We don't," Speedy answered. "He's too smart for that. However an organization this size is not easy to hide, we can use that to our advantage." He looked toward the Crimson Avenger in the back of the room and nodded. "Crim, why don't you show us what you found."

The Crimson Avenger stepped forward and put the manila folders down on the corner of the desk. "Four police reports from four different cities," he started. "All involving known mob associates who are now missing, and all with similar crime scenes. A lot of blood, but no bodies. I got pictures of the missing mobsters and matched them to faces that I saw tonight at the Bloodbath."

The Avenger opened the first folder and pulled out a picture. He tacked it onto the bulletin board under the picture of Graymore. It was a mug shot of an Asian man with a dragon tattoo on his neck and a pair of dark sunglasses over his face. "This is Jimmy 'Snake Eyes' Kashikami, member of the Yakuza. He and his crew operated out of Central City, mostly drugs and protection. He was the first one I saw arrive at the Bloodbath tonight and enter the back room, the tattoo and the sunglasses were a dead giveaway."

"Let me guess, he doesn't just wear his sunglasses at night so he can be more like Corey Hart," Speedy commented.

"He's blind. The story goes that when he was four, his mother dripped snake venom into his eyes to give him 'The Sight' against evil spirits. What he got instead were some series mommy issues and a sadistic streak a mile wide. He also has a reputation as a gifted martial artist."

"A blind vampire ninja, that's one for the scrapbook. What else?"

Crim picked up the next folder and removed a picture from it, tacking it to the board next to the first. It was another mug shot, this one of a skinny man with slicked back hair wearing a wifebeater and several gold chains around his neck. "Joey 'The Bone' Falcone, one of Uncle Carmine's many nephews," he said, referring to the legendary mobster from Gotham. "He ran a numbers racquet in Detroit. He disappeared one night along with most of his crew. Again the police found a lot of blood, but no bodies. Just another unsolved mob hit, or so they think."

The Avenger picked up the next folder and pulled out another picture. "'Crazy Ivan' Kalishnikov, Russian mob, Chicago." The picture showed a burly man with a bushy moustache and a creepy smile on his face.

"He doesn't sell discount stereos by any chance, does he?" Speedy asked.

"Actually, he's a hitman. And a particularly brutal one at that. He's also the only one out of the four who disappeared alone. He was last seen walking to his car. The car was later found with two broken windows and a large pool on blood on the driver's seat. Unfortunately, Chicago PD doesn't have enough information on the Russian mob to be able to link any other disappearances to this one, so we have no way of knowing if any others were taken in Chicago as well.

"And last but not least, Bobby Casavelli," Crim said, pulling out a fourth picture and tacking it to the board. It looked like a surveillance shot, showing an older man in a suit walking down a sidewalk. The man walking next to him was Rupert Thorne. "One of Rupert Thorne's chief lieutenants, he disappeared along with a room full of goons from one of Thorne's social clubs in Gotham, the Double Deuce. Again, the police wrote it up as a mob hit. He was spotted in Metropolis a few weeks ago, so the authorities believe that he survived the hit and is no longer working for Thorne."

"Why Metropolis?" Willow asked. "Why didn't he stay in Gotham?"

Speedy spoke up. "My guess is that the mafia didn't want to reveal themselves until they were stronger, so they stayed out of Gotham because they knew that Batman kept a close eye of the city's underworld. The fact that they're here now means that they're no longer afraid of the Justice League, which is not a good sign."

"So what do we do now?" Willow asked. "How do we find them?"

"More than likely Casavelli still has contacts in Gotham within the Thorne organization that are still human, we'll start there. Crim, anything in Casavelli's police file about local hangouts?"

Crimson Avenger paged through the police file in his hand for a moment before nodding. "There are three listed."

"Good, we'll split up," Speedy said. "Crim, take two slayers, you'll be Team Alpha. Willow, two slayers, you'll be Team Beta. I'll take whose left and we'll be Team Gamma." He reached into a pouch on his utility belt and pulled out a small object, tossing it to Willow. "Stay in touch," he said. Willow looked down at the Justice League communicator in her hand and nodded, putting it in her ear. "If we spot anybody, we let the others know, and we tail them. We don't engage, understand?" he said, emphasizing the point by making eye contact with all of the slayers around the room. "We want them to lead us back to wherever the rest of them are holed up." Speedy stood and walked over to the bulletin board, taking Casavelli's police file from the Avenger as he passed him. He pulled down a map of Gotham city that was hanging over the board and began marking the locations. "Wayne Tower here will be Fall Back Position Alpha, Thompson Park will be Beta, and the docks will be Gamma." He marked those locations on the map as well, for the benefit of the girls who probably didn't know the layout of the city very well. "Any questions?" No one spoke up. "Then let's go to work."

TBC...


End file.
